Houston Guided Pathways to Success
“Navigating the complicated path through college is a difficult task for far too many. All students need step-by-step roadmaps and intrusive guidance to on-time completion — saving time and money — and significantly boosting their success.”
- Guided Pathways to Success (GPS): Boosting College Completion, Complete College America, Winter 2012
Houston is one the largest and most rapidly growing metro regions in the U.S. and regional gross product has been growing faster than most of the largest metro regions. However, its rate of postsecondary attainment trails the national average for metro regions. Among the 20 largest metros in the U.S., Houston ranks 19th in educational attainment. Because higher education completion rates in Houston area colleges and universities slightly lag behind the national average, the trend of change does not appear positive and slow growth in postsecondary attainment threatens economic growth in the region.
On the other hand, postsecondary participation in Houston is on the increase; colleges have expanded their reach and enrollment has grown rapidly. If institutions can now increase their completion rates, they can drive significant increases in overall attainment rates in the region.
Houston GPS is an integrated system of cohesive, interdependent strategies that are designed to increase and accelerate student completion and smooth two-year to four-year college transfer while improving educational quality for Houston area students.
Houston GPS Goals:
- Provide a timely, structured, and seamless pathway for students transferring from Gulf Coast-Houston area community colleges to Houston area universities.
- Boost postsecondary attainment, and increase completion and successful transfer rates in the Houston region.
- Build a culture of timely graduation that will save everyone time and money, most importantly our students.
The University of Houston is leading the initiative in a collaborative partnership with the following four and two-year institutions:
Four-year institutions:
- University of Houston
- University of Houston-Clear Lake
- University of Houston-Downtown
- University of Houston-Victoria
- Texas Southern University
Two-year institutions: