Grant Funds Transfer Coaching for Lee College Students
Community college students planning to transfer will get coaching checkpoints at 15, 30, and 45 credit hours.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Financial Aid
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Lee College has received a $3.1 million grant from Houston Endowment to help transfer students move to four-year universities. The award follows a $500,000 planning grant the foundation gave the college in 2025.
Why it matters
Transfer students who start at a community college often face confusing credit and application steps before reaching a bachelor's program, which can add cost and delay a degree. The grant is intended to make that transfer path clearer, and it comes as Texas adjusts community college funding under House Bill 8, passed in 2023.
The $3.1 million award is part of a $33.2 million Houston Endowment initiative supporting nine Gulf Coast community colleges. Lee College will first direct the funding toward students pursuing engineering and criminal justice degrees, and the grant adheres to House Bill 8, passed in 2023.
The players
Lee College
A public community college in Baytown, Texas, that is the recipient of the grant and is developing transfer pathways for students.
Houston Endowment
A Houston-based philanthropic foundation that funds education and community initiatives across the region.
The details
Lee College Transfer Success Coaches will guide students from their first semester through their last, and will meet with students after they complete 15, 30, and 45 semester credit hours. Alumni will mentor students through the Transfer Navigator program, taking part in panels, visiting university campuses, and helping students work through the transfer process. Under House Bill 8, two-year institutions receive additional funding when a student completes a degree in a high-demand field.
Timeline
2023: House Bill 8 passed, changing community college funding.
2025: Houston Endowment awarded Lee College a $500,000 planning grant.
Since at least 2023: Lee College has pursued a four-year program.
November 6, 2026: Houston Endowment's $3.1 million grant to Lee College was announced.
Education Landscape
The grant builds on House Bill 8, which since 2023 has tied extra Texas community college funding to students completing degrees in high-demand fields. Transfer support of this kind addresses a long-running gap between two-year and four-year enrollment in the state.
If you plan to start at a community college and transfer, ask your advisor whether your school participates in a transfer coaching or mentoring program and when your coach checkpoints fall. Students in engineering or criminal justice degrees should ask the financial-aid office whether they qualify for the first phase of Lee College's grant-funded support.
The takeaway
Transfer support is becoming a funded priority, so students planning a bachelor's degree should map their credit path early. Ask a financial-aid or transfer advisor how coaching checkpoints at 15, 30, and 45 credit hours apply to your plan.
What happens next
Lee College has not yet named a university partner for its proposed four-year center, so no decision date has been set.
Further reading
For more on how grants like this reach students, see Financial Aid coverage on Scholaroo.
Source note: This article includes information reported by BaytownSun.
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