Gulf Coast area educators recently gathered at Houston Endowment’s headquarters to discuss ways of helping students earn credentials that will translate into good-paying jobs. The meeting marked the launch of Houston Endowment’s $33.2 million initiative to assist area community colleges in improving student outcomes. Pictured, left to right, are Dr. Trudy Cherasaro, Director of Research for Marzano Research; Wharton County Junior College President Dr. Amanda Allen; Kaylan Connally, Houston Endowment’s Program Director of Education; and Dr. Kimberly Lowry, Executive Director of the Texas Success Center.
WHARTON, TEXAS – A Houston Endowment grant will enable Wharton County Junior College to provide students with a clearer pathway to meeting educational and career goals. The $3 million grant – dispersed from Dec. 1 of this year to Nov. 30, 2029 – will support WCJC’s App2Cap framework, which provides a seamless student experience from application to graduation.
“This investment represents an extraordinary opportunity to transform how students navigate their educational journey at WCJC,” said WCJC President Dr. Amanda Allen. “Our students come to us with the expectation that their time at WCJC will lead to a better future; it is our responsibility to exceed that expectation. Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that a student doesn’t succeed by accident. Every student will have a clear pathway from the moment they apply to WCJC through graduation and beyond.”
The Houston Endowment funding will support WCJC’s App2Cap framework in three key ways:
WCJC’s $3 million grant is part of a larger $33.2 million batch of implementation grants provided by Houston Endowment to Greater Houston area community colleges. The nine colleges receiving the funding include WCJC, Alvin College, Brazosport College, College of the Mainland, Galveston College, Houston City College, Lee College, Lone Star College System and San Jacinto College.
Another $1 million over 18 months is being provided to the Texas Success Center, the student support arm of the Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC).
“Houston isn’t short of jobs. It’s short of rungs on the ladder, and credentials of value can be those rungs,” said Elisa Villanueva Beard, president and CEO of Houston Endowment. “These nine colleges form the biggest on-ramp to economic mobility in our region, and the people closest to the work are the experts. Our role is to help create the conditions for them to design solutions and learn from one another so that students across our region benefit. Only one in five of our region’s high school graduates is earning a living wage six years later. That is a number we can change, and we must change, together.”
The new implementation grants build upon $500,000 planning grants awarded by Houston Endowment to the nine Gulf Coast area colleges (and the Texas Success Center) in October 2025.
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