Undergraduate students Katrina Perez (l) and Jessica Diese made a smooth transition to University of Houston-Clear Lake by following the 2+2 transfer plans in place at the area community colleges they were attending.

2+2, Unilink offer smooth transition to UH-Clear Lake

When University of Houston-Clear Lake first opened its doors in 1974,  its unique upper-level program for undergraduate student enrollment gave area community college students an excellent way to continue their education. Through the years, thousands of UH-Clear Lake students have made the seamless transition from the local college systems.

Among those students are Jessica Diese and Katrina Perez, students who found 2+2 transfer plans hard to resist. Diese, who transferred to UH-Clear Lake in the spring 2005 semester from San Jacinto College – South, knew from the beginning of her college experience that she wanted to stay close to her Pearland home.

Once enrolled at the local community college, Diese immediately spoke with a counselor to get on track for a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Her counselor made it easy, providing her with a complete list of the classes she needed to take to finish her requirements at San Jacinto Community College and then to transfer to UH-Clear Lake in spring 2007.

“I always knew that I wanted to stay close to home,” explains Diese. “After I was accepted at San Jacinto College, I went with my dad and visited with a counselor. At the time, I thought I wanted a business degree and I learned about the 2+2 plan with UH-Clear Lake.”

Although Diese eventually changed her mind about a general business degree to concentrate on finance, the plan she followed still allowed her an easy transition to UH-Clear Lake.

“I tell all my friends about how smoothly everything went and that if they are planning to stay in the area, they can still just follow the plan and that they don’t have to have an associate’s degree to come to UH-Clear Lake,” says Diese, who plans to complete her degree this December.

First generation college student Katrina Perez experienced the same smooth move from the community college to UH-Clear Lake. The Houston Community College – Southeast student transferred last fall and hopes to complete her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with an early childhood education certificate in 2009. She plans to teach kindergarten, following in her older sister’s footsteps.

“When I started attending Houston Community College, I originally thought that I might transfer to another university in the area, but then I spoke with  Jerricia Ulmer, a counselor from UH-Clear Lake, and found out what UH-Clear Lake had to offer,” says Perez, who adds that she draws inspiration from her mother. “My mom and I came to the Open House and I knew that this was where I needed to be.

“I was nervous about going to a big campus and UH-Clear Lake is the right size for me, with smaller classes; I also enjoyed seeing the deer and the natural surroundings.”

In addition, Perez found out from her UH-Clear Lake adviser that she qualified for the Greater Texas Foundation’s Generation Proud Scholarship for first generation college students, making the decision to complete her degree at UH-Clear Lake even easier.

More than 3,000 UH-Clear Lake students in fall 2007 had transferred from community colleges. Transferring is easy through 2+2 Transfer Plans and articulation guides the university has created with 15 area community colleges including Alvin Community College, Brazosport College, College of the Mainland, Galveston College, Houston Community College, Kingwood College, Lee College, Montgomery College, North Harris College, Pearland College Center, Tomball College, Wharton County Junior College and San Jacinto College’s South, Central and North campuses.

In addition to the 2+2 Transfer Plans, the Unilink program allows community college students the opportunity to experience university life while still enrolled as freshmen and sophomores at community college. Benefits of this program include a signed combined community college and UH-Clear Lake degree plan under the current UH-Clear Lake catalog guidelines and participation in many of UH-Clear Lake’s activities.  To be eligible, students must have completed 30 hours or fewer and submit a valid Unilink agreement signed by the community college counselor and a UH-Clear Lake Enrollment Management Counselor. 

And for those students like Perez who might be swayed by scholarships, beginning this fall, qualified students transferring to UH-Clear Lake from local community colleges with grade point averages of 2.75 or higher will automatically qualify for scholarships. 

For more information about transfer scholarships and programs, call the Office of Admissions, 281-283-2500, or visit http://www.uhcl.edu/scholarships/transfer.