The Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) has introduced a program that will provide state funding to those with two-year college degrees to attend four-year institutions and earn their bachelors’ degrees.

The program, called Pathways to Success, aims to bolster the state’s economy through offering support for ongoing education.

“For us, it’s about providing support for them growing their human capital for what is needed in that region,” ACHE Executive Director Jim Purcell said. “We basically did a statistical analysis using the American Community Survey (ACS) and determined two workforce regions that were on the cusp of economic growth but they needed to have a different mix of credentialed individuals.”

The ACS is an annual survey of social and economic demographics conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Students attending a four-year institution can receive up to $3,000 per academic year for full-time enrollment and $250 per credit hour for part-time enrollment. Students attending a two-year institution can receive up to $1,500 per academic year for full-time enrollment and $125 per credit hour for part-time enrollment.

The initiative currently focuses on the southeast, east and north Alabama regions. According to a presentation, the Southeastern region has a high number of people with associate degrees, but is in need of individuals with a bachelor degree or higher and higher labor force participation.

Jacksonville State University (JSU), Troy University, Athens State University and Calhoun Community College will participate in the program.

this academic year is $10,590 while is $10,176. tuition for last academic year was $6,120 and tuition for the same term was $5,120.

“Being selected for the Pathways to Progress Initiative affirms our commitment to helping northeast Alabama grow by building a stronger workforce and creating more opportunities for adult learners,” JSU President Don C. Killingsworth said in a statement.

Purcell said the program will move across the state as the ACS is updated.

“We will be looking at places which we think we can increase the speed we rightset the workforce there to provide an appropriate mix of bachelors and associates in a community,” he said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

In a six-year study interviewing 104 transfer-intending students, Jabbar, an associate professor at the , said viewing transfer issues solely as a community college problem only “moves the needle a little bit.”

“A lot of these existing reforms that focus on community colleges do help,” Jabbar told ����Ӱ��. “But it doesn’t address the larger problem if universities are not helping students.”

The students, who attended either Central Community College or the Fernando Community College System in Texas, experienced many difficulties in transferring — from credit loss to inadequate career advising.

“Community colleges don’t have the power to say whether those credits subsequently transfer or whether the student is admitted to a university,” Schudde, an associate professor at , told ����Ӱ��. 

“And if that information is not readily available or changes, then any guidance they have offered to students goes out the window.”

In their “Discredited: Power, Privilege, and Community College Transfer,” Schudde and Jabbar argue that transfer policy is a complex public higher education issue rather than an isolated community college problem.

“Most research is really focused on the hurdles, the information problems and the barriers within community colleges,” Jabbar said. “[But] we can’t solve the problem of community college transfer without also holding universities accountable and bringing them in.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The book began with the story of Teresa — a Latina, 19-year-old community college student raised in Texas — who planned to transfer to a four-year college but was left confused about the steps she needed to take to do so. Can you tell me more about how her experience speaks broadly to the often confusing student-transfer pathway?

Jabbar: There were so many stories, but Teresa exemplified the kinds of experiences that we heard and revealed it wasn’t just that there were hurdles along the way. Oftentimes we hear about students’ life experiences, such as working to support family members, that are obviously barriers to transfer. But there were also these institutional barriers — and not just at the community college level.

For Teresa, it was after she transferred that she was like ‘wait a minute, these policies don’t line up.’ And she expressed the frustration that a lot of our students felt when she talked about how she wished these institutions would just get together and come up with some kind of agreement that would make the process more streamlined. That’s why we highlighted her story.

Schudde: I would add that in a lot of research she might be viewed as a success story. Most research looks at transfer-intending students and if they transferred. But when you only look at this you miss everything that happens in the process. 

As we followed students, we did get to see some actually graduate and get their bachelor’s degree. But Teresa’s case helped us highlight that even the success story has things that go on within it that are really challenging for students to deal with.

Your work takes a closer look into more than 100 transfer-intending community college students who attended either Central Community College or the Fernando Community College System in Texas. Was there a reason why you sampled this student population?

Schudde: Huriya and I worked together at The University of Texas at Austin in the department for education leadership and policy. Huriya started there a year before me and was working on a project studying community college students that were interested in transferring. When I arrived, I was working on a project that was studying the personnel who worked with those transfer students to understand how they’re making sense of transfer policies in Texas.

We started talking and realized we could merge these two things. She also had a sample of over 100 community college students — that’s a big deal. So we ended up pursuing more funding and followed those students for six years.

The majority of students in the sample identified as Latino because that is what the majority of students in Texas, particularly at community colleges, identify as. And most students in the sample also come from low-income families.

Jabbar: In most states, the vast majority of students starting at a community college are low-income students and often students of color. So in many ways our sample aligns with the general population of community colleges across the country.

The book illustrates how transfer success is closely tied to how well college institutions confront “overt and hidden barriers” — from credit loss to flaws in career advising. From your research, where do you see the largest opportunities for college leaders at two-year and four-year institutions to improve their transfer outcomes?

Jabbar: We see the problem as somewhat different than it has been talked about in the past. Most research is really focused on the hurdles, the information problems and the barriers within community colleges. Our argument is that we can’t solve the problem of community college transfer without also holding universities accountable and bringing them in. We need to move from viewing this as a community college problem to a public higher education problem.

Schudde: So many of the reforms to date have focused on community colleges and it’s like moving the needle the tiniest amount. That’s because the community colleges don’t have the power to say whether those credits subsequently transfer or whether the student is admitted to a university. And if that information is not readily available or changes, then any guidance they have offered to students goes out the window. It had no meaning. 

There’s a bunch of one-off solutions where we could say to every university ‘we really want you to build these reliable transfer agreements with your most common feeder community colleges’ but it feels like those recommendations have not been effective in the past. Especially because some of the most powerful universities feel like ‘well why should I have to do that?’ And we’re talking about public universities here where they should think of themselves as part of this public higher education ecosystem. 

What we would like to see is a mandate for an associate degree that transfers. Something that would allow someone from a community college to move into a public university and know that they’re going to be at junior status as long as they have the 60 credits. That would require action from university actors because they would have to decide how those credits count.

The reason why I’m emphasizing some sort of state government action is because there’s been all this research the past several decades about community college transfer but no action has happened when it’s left up to universities. They don’t have incentives to do that. There’s also this tension between whose credits are going to count towards the degree because there’s money involved. There would need to be some legislative action, which we’ve seen in some states, that would require university actors to make these changes and take some accountability.

My understanding is that a majority of Texas community colleges utilize the guided pathways advising model. How has this influenced the transfer student experience?

Schudde: When we first started talking to students, that was when the guided pathways advising model was coming out. There was some movement but the community colleges had not fully adopted it when the first and second wave of interviews started. Around the third year we started seeing staff mentioning that the advising models were changing. 

That guidance has been helping but something we do say in the book is that the challenge is still there. If all the community colleges are adopting this but the university that a student goes to is unaware or doesn’t care to know what classes they took, then it doesn’t necessarily help the student. 

That thread has to carry all the way through into the bachelor’s degree. So for this reform to actually make a large impact on getting a bachelor’s degree, we need to see the universities are also adopting, or at least recognizing, those courses that they have to take in their first two years.

Jabbar: A lot of these existing reforms that focus on community colleges do help and move the needle a little bit. Students are getting better advising, or more frequent advising, and they’re being guided while in community college. But it doesn’t address the larger problem if universities are not helping students.

Schudde: Guided pathways is probably the biggest reform community colleges have seen in a long time. But in most cases I don’t know if it’s getting to the university. Unless it’s a university that works really closely with their local community college, it doesn’t seem like a lot of them are really aware that students are being guided to take this set of core courses. Which means that, ideally, those core courses would also be the universities prerequisites for the major’s coursework. So that’s why that connection to the next set of institutions is so important.

It goes without saying that racial and socioeconomic equity and access in higher education plays a role in transfer success. How does this tie in with the findings in your book?

Schudde: The reason why this ties in so much with ongoing conversations, especially about racial equity in higher education, is because universities aren’t really able to use all the same tools that they used to use in admissions processes. We have this other public higher education system, community colleges, that have really had a democratizing effect — allowing greater access for students from low-income families to students of color. Historically, that’s who they’re serving. 

We didn’t necessarily see major differences across race but there were some across social class. There were some students who had more connections to other people that had navigated the transfer process and been to a university. Those sorts of things helped them figure out who to talk to and what they needed to know in order to take the right classes. 

The gist of our argument, and how it relates to equity, is we need to make these pathways easier to navigate. Under the current context, it’s not easy for them to do that which means we’re really limiting the power of our higher education systems to help with social mobility.

Jabbar: The goal would be that policy remedies can help address the uneven information access and social capital that students coming in have. Institutions should be able to address that and even it out. The existing system is really disadvantageous to community college students who seek to get a bachelor’s degree. 

We really do believe institutions can support students in achieving those goals, but right now they’re not. And because they are disproportionately low-income and students of color that’s where they reproduce existing inequities.

After working on this book, what would you say was your most surprising takeaway?

Jabbar: The main argument of this book is not something I thought we were going to make going into it. I really thought we were going to focus on community colleges. What are the barriers within community colleges? And how can we improve systems within community colleges? I don’t think I realized just how powerful universities were in creating some of the problems that we were seeing in the community colleges. So it was a surprise to me when we looked at the data.

Schudde: Some of the things that surprised me was how candid some of the university actors are when we talked to them about this. So it’s not that I’m surprised by the findings, but I expected some of them to be more guarded about it. It was very explicit in some conversations where it’s basically complete acknowledgement of gatekeeping. That was shocking for me.

What’s something people aren’t talking enough about regarding the state of transfer policies?

Schudde: I would say more questions about how we change the minds of university actors. And this is not to say I believe they have ill will. This idea of gatekeeping is very much them prioritizing what they see as maintaining the rigor of their programs. Huriya and I are both university faculty so we’ve seen what it’s like to be on this side. We have those conversations. It happens. 

A lot of the burden turns back to what community colleges can do whereas I believe the bigger question is how we get the universities to be willing partners. Or at least be policy change compliance partners and help them see that there are some benefits for everyone if we make these changes.

Jabbar: There might be some interest convergence opportunities here with the bans on affirmative action and institutions still committed to admitting a diverse population. If we can help them see that community colleges could be one pathway to doing that, that’s one place to shift their perceptions. 

One of the big things for me that is interesting about this study is understanding the cost of decentralized policies that give more autonomy and flexibility, but often put the burden on historically marginalized students and families. 

Schudde: Our proposal is basically trying to centralize some of these decisions. The processes would still remain within a university, but they would be mandated to take those community college credits and could still have the autonomy to decide how they count. Especially in Texas, which is a state that has really prioritized institutional autonomy and decentralization, that might be a harder pill to swallow than in some other contexts. 

I do agree with Huriya that we could really see it play out at the individual level. Not just students but also advisors at the community colleges and universities are trying to make sense of every institution’s set of policies. It’s just not manageable at the individual level so there’s a reason why there are benefits to centralizing some of these decisions.

Benjamin Gregory, a former community college student, managed to graduate with an associate degree and transfer to a four-year school despite the challenges of enrolling as an older student.

And for Loren Van Tilburg, earning a four-year degree came to a halt when he left college and started his own automobile business.

From financial concerns to questioning the need of a four-year degree, Jennifer, Benjamin and Loren represent many students who were left unprepared to make their college decisions as the path to earn a four-year degree continues to be riddled with barriers.

“If you have some understanding of what you want to make of yourself and you have a plan to apply your skills, leaving college can be the best thing for you,” said Loren, who like many of his peers has had a growing interest in immediate employment and apathy for a four-year education.

Here are the experiences that led to Jennifer, Benjamin and Loren’s college decisions:

Jennifer Toledo, 19

Northwest Vista College

Growing up in Mexico, Jennifer always wanted to live in the U.S. and finally got her chance when she moved to San Antonio, Texas by herself when she was 15 years old.

But there were challenges — including when her high school stopped offering ESL classes — forcing her to learn English and complete schoolwork on her own.

“It was hard,” Jennifer told ����Ӱ��. “I was using the translator on my computer [because] I didn’t know how to say anything.”

But Jennifer’s experience changed when she took an education class in high school and the teacher helped her learn English.

Intending to join the U.S. Navy post-high school, Jennifer’s teacher encouraged her to enroll in classes at Northwest Vista College instead.

Today, Jennifer has earned her associate degree in teaching and will transfer to The University of Texas at San Antonio in the fall.

Her goal is to earn a bachelor’s degree in bilingual education so she can teach the ESL classes she was unable to receive as a high school student.

“I really want to help students,” Jennifer said. “I want to be that teacher who speaks and teaches them English.”

But Jennifer said navigating her transfer experience was “stressful” because she was balancing her studies with working part-time at a local middle school.

“At some point, I wanted to quit [and] go back to Mexico to stay with my family because of the stress,” Jennifer said.

Jennifer attributes the counseling offered at her community college as one of the support systems that helped her stay afloat.

“I needed help, I needed someone to listen to me and tell me ‘you’re okay, everything’s going to be fine,’” Jennifer said.

Her hope for other students is that they don’t allow their inability to speak English to hinder their higher education goals.

“I want to demonstrate to my family, and to everyone, that it’s possible,” Jennifer said. “I want to be an inspiration for them so they know there’s no limit to what they can do.”

Benjamin Gregory, 27

The University of Texas at San Antonio

Benjamin graduated high school in 2014 and enrolled at Texas A&M University where he majored in aerospace engineering.

But he was more focused on getting a “PhD in partying” and left school after a semester to join the workforce.

He spent three years working as a Target employee followed by one year as a mall security guard — where a physical altercation with a thief altered his life.

“Being a security guard was such a terrible experience for me because I hate being mean to people,” Benjamin told ����Ӱ��. “I got reprimanded for laying my hands on someone who on the [security footage] obviously attacked me and I ended up quitting my job.”

His parents encouraged him to “give college another shot.”

“This path working an hourly job as a security guard and as a retail worker wasn’t for me. I really didn’t like doing it, but it was just something I had to do to live, pay for food and rent and all that,” Benjamin said. “I just wanted a clean slate.”

In 2019, Benjamin enrolled at Northwest Vista College and eventually transferred to The University of Texas at San Antonio where he majored in mechanical engineering.

“I went from working a job where I didn’t really have to do anything besides walk around a mall…to having homework again,” Benjamin said, adding how grateful he was to have a second chance to take courses in what he is truly passionate about.

But navigating college as an older student without a paycheck came with challenges — most notably how to pay tuition on top of his other bills, including car payments and credit card debt.

“I didn’t know if I was actually going to be able to stick with it the whole time,” Benjamin said. “But fortunately enrolling in community college first was significantly cheaper and a lot more relaxed because [professors] know there’s other things outside of school that students have to worry about.”

Enrolling in community college first offered him a better transition back into higher education, he added.

“The class sizes were so much smaller so you could get to know your professor very easily,” Benjamin said. “And they don’t really do research at a community college so they were a lot more excited to show up to class than a lot of professors you will meet in a university.”

Benjamin recently graduated with his bachelor’s degree and will continue his studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio — but instead of a “PhD in partying” he’ll be working towards a doctorate in chemical engineering.

“I know that classes can sometimes suck…but I’ve been in the workforce without a degree and I know that sucked a lot more,” Benjamin said. 

“I’m thankful to my community college for the professional development and helping me be a more open person,” he said. “It was one of the best experiences of my life.”

Loren Van Tilburg, 19

University of La Verne

Loren originally enrolled at the University of La Verne and majored in economics, but quickly grew disinterested in his studies.

After his first year, Loren made the decision to leave his four-year school and get a job.

He experimented with a few ways to earn income — from day trading to dropshipping — but found his real passion was taking care of cars.

In 2023, Loren started a car detailing business which involves traveling to his clients’ home to clean and repair their vehicles.

“I won’t sugarcoat it, the decision was very difficult,” Loren told ����Ӱ��. “But at the end of the day, I knew that I wanted to start a business and I wouldn’t need a degree for it.”

While balancing his budding business, he also began working with a brokerage firm to become a financial advisor, which involves studying for a securities license he aims to complete by the end of the year.

Loren’s desire for on-the-job training and trade certification compared to a four-year degree reflects the mindset of a growing number of young students.

“I’ve always wanted to do something like this because managing money makes money,” Loren said, adding that many of his coworkers had similar educational pathways.

“It’s a cool environment to be in,” Loren said. “So if anyone chooses the path that I chose, it’s really good to find a community of people that made similar life choices because they will understand where you’re coming from and your struggles.”

For Loren, leaving his four-year school was the best decision he could make for himself despite initial pushback from his parents. 

“There have been ups and downs, but I definitely don’t regret my decision,” Loren said.

“For me, if I have to resort to going back to school then I failed,” he added. “I’m not saying if you go to college you’re a failure, but I chose this path for myself so if I go back then I kind of just wasted all this time.”

This article is part of a series in partnership with reporter Joshua Bay’s highlighting the struggles of community college students.