Lone Star College System has partnered with 60 other colleges and universities in Texas to become part of the Association of American Colleges and Universities LEAP Texas initiative, a voluntary collation which seeks to advance higher levels of learning among college students.

“Student success is our number one mission,” said Keri Rogers, LSCS vice chancellor, academic affairs. “Being a part of LEAP Texas will enhance our ability to help our students find academic success, which then helps them to transfer to a four year university and obtain a bachelor’s degree. Also, learning a wide range of skills helps students to more easily transition into the workplace.”

Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) is a national advocacy whose approach to learning empowers individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity and change.  It offers students a broader knowledge of the wider world with subjects such as science, culture and society, as well as in-depth study in a specific area of interest.

“Students at Texas higher education institutions must attain certain critical skills for future success in the workplace and throughout life,” said Raymund Paredes, Texas commissioner of Higher Education. “Strong communication, the ability to work well within a team, critical thinking skills, as well as other competences have been identified in the new Texas Core Curriculum for Higher Education as being crucial to success.

“The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and LEAP Texas are aligned in our efforts to identify higher education learning outcomes that not only improve completion and productivity rates within higher education and the workforce, but also enhance and inspire the quality of students’ learning,” said Paredes.

LEAP Texas is committed to:

• Upholding the commitment of faculty across our various institutions to provide a strong educational foundation for an increasingly diverse student body, a foundation that prepares them for work and citizenship in the 21st Century and is well aligned with goals of employers 
• Adhering to the Texas Core Curriculum for Higher Education, facilitating rigor and transferability, within a context of innovation 
• Responding to the increasing national focus on student learning outcomes; and 
• Applying the scholarship of teaching and learning.

“I am thrilled that Lone Star College will be partnering with colleges and universities throughout Texas to be a part of the LEAP initiative,” said Dr. Ann Bolman, LSC-Montgomery vice president of instruction and newly-elected LEAP Texas board of director. “The renewed emphasis on providing key learning outcomes through the new core curriculum will have a dramatic impact on helping students to achieve their academic goals.”

Currently California, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin also participate in LEAP state initiatives. 

Lone Star College System has been opening doors to a better community for 40 years. Founded in 1973, LSCS remains steadfast in its commitment to student success and credential completion.  Today, with 78,000 students in credit classes, and a total enrollment of more than 90,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and one of the fastest-growing community college systems in the nation.  Dr. Richard Carpenter is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of six colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball and LSC-University Park, seven centers, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online.

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