Students Explore Options at Annual Transfer Fair

A TCC student talks with a University representative during the Transfer Fair.

Tarrant County College students browsed displays and spoke with representatives from more than 50 four-year colleges and universities from across the country during Transfer Week events held Jan. 25 to Jan. 28 on each campus.

This year’s event enabled thousands of TCC students to collect basic information about several four-year schools at one time, make sure they are taking the right classes for the programs they may want and converse with college reps.

Most of the colleges and universities were from Texas, but there was strong representation from out-of-state schools, including The Ohio State University, Kansas State University and Troy University.

Debbie Lambert, a member of the Community & Educational Affairs office at Los Angeles-based Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM), looks forward to visiting TCC each January.

“This is my fifth year attending Transfer Week, and I will continue to participate as a way of recruiting the outstanding students here at TCC,” she said, after meeting several students during her visit to Northwest Campus. “Once TCC students enroll at FIDM, they are more than prepared to complete their bachelor’s degree.”

TCC currently holds articulation agreements with 74 colleges and universities. Articulation agreements match coursework between schools, which helps students make a smoother transition from one institution to another by minimizing duplication of coursework.

A TCC student talks with a University representative during the Transfer Fair.

The college has one of the highest transfer rates of any community college in Texas. Each year, large numbers of students begin their higher education at TCC before transferring to four-year institutions. Over the 2008-2013 academic years, 10,973 TCC students transferred to Texas public colleges and universities.

“I already had several offers on the table, but this transfer fair opens new doors for me and my family,” said Nathalie Palacios, a senior attending Marine Creek Collegiate High School located on the TCC Northwest Campus. “My plan is to stay in Texas; that way I won’t graduate with much debt at all.”

The events are planned in conjunction with the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.