Blinn College Bryan Campus Home to Future Aggies
Published Jan 24, 2008
Around 10,000 students attend Blinn College. Many will continue their education at Texas A&M.
It’s not hard to see the growth in education and advanced degrees in The Research Valley as thousands of students pour into the region every year to attend classes.
Texas A&M University plans to hire about 400 new professors over the next few years to keep up with the mass intake in students attending school in the region, according to the venerable university whose graduates are known everywhere as Aggies.
Brenham-based Blinn College’s Bryan campus has more than 10,000 students, most of whom plan to transfer to Texas A&M to complete four-year degrees, which highlights the need for more professors and instructors.
Blinn College, the oldest county-owned community college in Texas, serves as a feeder campus for Texas A&M, says Blinn College spokeswoman Gina Parsons.
Nearly 11,000 students have graduated over the past decade, she says.
“We have the highest transfer rate in the state. We transfer more students to Texas A&M and have the highest percentage of students who obtain their bachelor degrees,” Parsons says. “That’s because we’re right at A&M’s back door.”
Blinn College, only about five miles from Texas A&M, leads the state’s two-year colleges with the highest percentage of students who go on to earn bachelor’s degrees.
About 75 percent of Blinn College’s students plan to transfer to gain advanced degrees, while the remainder complete their education with technical and vocational programs.
The two institutions do not share teaching staff or facilities, but have a good working relationship to help students, Parsons notes.
“Most community colleges tend to have more technical students, but at Blinn, it’s different because we have so many students who are primary transfer students,” she says.
The transfer programs allow students to save money the first two years of school, while also experiencing smaller classrooms than what they will exper ience once they transfer to Texas A&M, Parsons says.
“It’s a unique program with A&M for transfers for students on the A&M waiting list,” Parsons adds. “About 500 of those each year are offered enrollment in the TEAM (Transfer Enrollment at A&M) program, which allows them to take one class at A&M and a class at Blinn.”
The Blinn-TEAM, offered since 2001, targets freshmen on the Texas A&M waiting list, which usually has about 1,500 fall applicants each year. If no spaces are available, the students may enroll for 12 credit hours each semester in the TEAM program if accepted.
Blinn College’s Bryan campus has about 2,500 students co-enrolled each semester on both college campuses, Parsons says.
Students reap the benefits of both campuses, including access to Texas A&M’s health center, library, recreation activities, sporting events and food services. They also may apply for on-campus housing or join an Aggie sorority or fraternity.
“After two years, if they have at least a 3.0 [grade point average], then they get to transfer,” says Blinn’s Parsons. “You get the benefits of each school, yet you’re still at Blinn getting a better value for your money.”
Story by Cristal Cody
Photo by Stephen Cherry
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