DENTON (UNT), Texas — While many college-aged students are struggling with the constraints caused by COVID-19, the University of North Texas offers a variety of options to help young adults continue working toward a degree without immediately starting with a four-year program. 

In addition to being the first U.S. university to offer a bachelor’s degree on Coursera, the world’s leading online learning platform, UNT has several option to help students who decide to start at a community college make a smooth transition to the university.

“We understand that with COVID and other factors, students may be struggling financially or may not want to venture far from home, especially if they are recent high school graduates. Programs that help those students easily transition from a community college to a university are invaluable to helping our students reach their goals,” said Jennifer Cowley, provost and vice president for academic affairs. 

Many of the programs are set up to help students complete their bachelor’s degree in an accelerated timeframe. For example, an agreement between UNT and Allen ISD allows students to begin taking dual credit classes through Collin College as high school freshmen. Students can complete their associate degree while in high school and transfer to UNT to finish one of nine degrees in just two years. 

UNT is also partnered with North Central Texas College through the statewide Transfer Partnership Strategy initiative intended to leverage existing transfer expertise in Texas and foster improved collaboration between regional partners. UNT and NCTC advisors are working together with students to maximize applicable transfer credits. The collaboration also requires students to engage more with advisors at critical points in their academic journey to ensure the students are on track to succeed with their academic goals. 

UNT makes seamless transfer a priority for the thousands of Texas community college students admitted each year. Transfer guides posted on the UNT website outline pathways to bachelor's degrees that include both community college and UNT courses. Students who begin at a community college can follow the transfer guide and complete their degree in four years without losing credit in transfer. 

"Student success is our highest priority and we want to do everything in our power to ensure that students who may start their college experience elsewhere have many options to achieve their educational goals at UNT," Cowley said.