Building the bridge that carries our students from where they are to where they want to be.

Part of a Bigger Commitment
The GTPA initiative is a direct extension of Lone Star College System's Strategic Plan, Do the Thing & Be the Bridge: 2025–2030. Under Goal 4: Connections to Bridges of Prosperity, the College committed to building bridges that connect students to gainful employment and successful transfer opportunities, including two measurable goals by 2030:

• KPI 1: Achieve a 70% university graduation rate for LSCS first-time transfer students, ensuring students do not just transfer, but succeed once they get there.
• KPI 5: Establish 5 Guaranteed Transfer Partnership Agreements with partner universities and create a total of 50 guaranteed transfer pathways across the College's top-performing programs, removing uncertainty and giving students confidence that the credits they earn at Lone Star College will count at their next institution.

The GTPA is how the College turns that commitment into action.

A Clear Path from Community College to a Bachelor's Degree
Lone Star College is partnering with leading Texas universities to make the path from an associate degree to a bachelor's degree simpler, faster, and more affordable for students. These partnerships are formalized through Guaranteed Transfer Partnership Agreements (GTPAs), official agreements between Lone Star College and university partners that guarantee how a student's credits will transfer.

What the GTPA Does
A GTPA is a formal, signed agreement between Lone Star College and a university partner that spells out, in advance, exactly how coursework completed at Lone Star College will count toward a bachelor's degree at the partner university. Instead of students discovering after the fact which credits transfer, the agreement guarantees the outcome up front, for up to six years, so students who stay continuously enrolled do not lose ground even if a course requirement changes later.

From Dual Credit to Triple Credit
Lone Star College has long been a leader in dual credit, helping high school students earn college credit before graduation. The GTPA extends that head start even further. With a guaranteed transfer pathway already in place, a dual credit course a student takes in high school does not just count toward a high school diploma and an LSC degree, it is already positioned to count toward a bachelor's degree at a partner university too.

That is Triple Credit: one course, three credentials working together — high school credit, Lone Star College credit, and university credit. For the College's growing number of dual credit students, it means the momentum they build in high school does not stop at an associate degree. It carries all the way through to a bachelor's degree, with the transfer already guaranteed.

How It Helps Students

• Certainty. Students know from day one which courses will transfer and how they apply to their intended degree.
• A head start. Students transfer in with at least 60 credit hours recognized and are welcomed as juniors, keeping them on track to graduate on time.
• Dedicated support. Each partner university provides an admissions counselor specifically to help transferring students navigate the process.
• A second option. Students who transfer before finishing their associate degree can still receive credit back through “reverse transfer” to complete it, so the work they have done still counts toward an award at LSC.

How It Helps Lone Star College

• Strengthens Lone Star College's role as a launching pad for four-year degrees, not just an endpoint.
• Gives advisors clear, published transfer plans to guide students accurately from the start.
• Deepens data-sharing with university partners so both sides can track and support student success.
• Builds structured transfer pathways with university partners that are reviewed and refined annually, not static, one-time agreements.

How It Helps the University Partners

• Provides a reliable, well-prepared pipeline of transfer students who arrive with strong academic foundations.
• Reduces administrative friction by pre-approving degree plans rather than evaluating transfer credit case by case.
• Supports each university's own enrollment and completion goals with students who are already positioned to succeed.
• Creates a shared framework for collaboration on outcomes, from graduation rates to career success.

A Shared Commitment
Both institutions review the partnership every year, looking at how many students are graduating, how well the agreement is working in practice, and where it can be improved. The result is a partnership built not just on paperwork, but on an ongoing commitment to student success.

Learn more about the LSCS Strategic Plan at lonestar.edu/strategic-initiatives.htm.

The GTPA also reflects new statewide transfer standards adopted by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board under Senate Bill 3039, reinforcing transparency and consistency for students across Texas.