We are very happy to announce the awarding of a $148,000 grant to Drs. Marc Cutright, Bonita Jacobs, Amy Fann, and Beverly Bower all of the Higher Education Program in the Department of Counseling and Higher Education. This award from the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation is entitled, The Efficacy of Transfer Policies and Programs in the State of Texas.

Building upon recommendations made following the 2008 Presidents' and Chancellors' Transfer Success Summit (THECB, 2008), this research explores the efficacy of Texas educational policies and institutional programs relating to transfer student success and baccalaureate degree attainment. Research objectives are to explore:

1. how campus administrators perceive and enact transfer policies;
2. transfer experiences of community college students preparing to transfer and university students who have recently transferred to four‐year institutions from community colleges; and
3. whether transfer experiences of minority, first‐generation, and non‐traditional students differ from transfer students' experiences in general.

Data gathering is planned during 12 site visits to Texas 2‐ and 4‐year public institutions, utilizing in‐depth individual interviews and focus groups, as well as a quantitative review of relevant university policies and programs.

A graduate course on qualitative inquiry is currently being built around the proposed research and will be a primary source of trained site investigators.