Thousands of Texas students lose college credits when transferring. Here are pitfalls to avoid.

By Sneha Dey, The Texas Tribune
March 31, 2026

Thousands of students take classes every year that won’t count toward their degree, losing transfer credits, setting back college careers and raising education costs.

In the 2023-24 school year, more than 19,000 Texas community college students didn’t get credit for at least one of their courses when they transferred to a university.

Recent data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board offers a window into why students are losing out on college credit and which courses are most frequently getting denied. The report also gives insight into pitfalls for dual-credit high school students trying to get a head start on college.

Here’s what students should know about losing transfer credits to stay on track to graduate.

What is credit loss?

Credit loss happens when college-level courses that students have already taken and paid for do not count toward their degree.

“It is adding time to degree completion, and it is costing the students more money,” said Kelli Cano, director of the transfer center at South Texas College in McAllen. “We want to have them on the right track so that they can complete as quickly as they would like to.”

The loss of time and money diminishes the value of a college degree. Students often have to pay to retake classes, which can increase student loan debt. Student loans in the state average nearly $16,000 at community colleges and more than $24,000 at public universities. Credit loss also slows graduation, delaying entry into the workforce and earnings that follow.

Credit loss can be enough of a penalty to discourage a student from completing college altogether.

Why are students losing credits?

Texas has about 50 community college districts and about 37 public four-year universities. Those schools all follow a statewide core curriculum, which refers to the first 42 semester credit hours undergraduate students are required to take. But not all institutions accept the same courses for the first 42 hours.

Students often lose credit because a community college class falls outside the degree plan requirements for their major at a new institution. More than half of the credits denied in the fall of 2024 were because they fell outside degree requirements, according to state data.

Colleges can also set grade requirements, like a C or higher, for courses to count toward a degree. Falling below the grade requirement means having to retake the course at their new school.

Public universities are also typically required to accept up to 66 credit hours from a transfer student. For those with more than 66 hours eligible for transfer, the additional credits are considered “electives” and may not transfer.

Which courses are getting denied the most?

For high schoolers trying to get a jump on college with dual credit courses, students most commonly ran into problems getting credits counted for macroeconomics and college algebra.

In a recent analysis of credit loss data among dual-credit students from 2020-24, researchers found about 1 in 5 college algebra courses were not counted. Colleges are likely accepting different or higher levels of math, like statistics or calculus, as transfer credit for STEM majors, said Lauren Schudde, a University of Texas at Austin researcher who led the analysis.

High school students should carefully consider how best to prepare for math in college before enrolling in college-level algebra. In some cases, it may help students to take a more advanced high school course, such as Algebra II or precalculus, instead of lower-level algebra for dual credit.

Some students also saw credit for macroeconomics rejected because the course fell outside degree requirements.

“Students really should be thinking ahead about what they want their major to be,” Schudde said. “If they’re torn between STEM and social sciences, then maybe you don’t make the bet yet on a particular math or macroeconomics, until you’ve made that decision.”

English composition is a popular dual enrollment course, but students didn’t see the credit apply to their major 9% of the time.

What state policy applies?

To save students from spending time and money on unnecessary courses, Texas lawmakers pushed universities to be more transparent about what it takes to earn a degree. Senate Bill 25, which became law in 2019, required universities to share a recommended course sequence for every major to act as a guide helping students select community college courses.

Under former commissioner Harrison Keller, the state’s higher education agency also started to identify courses by major — known as “Field of Study” courses — that would be guaranteed to transfer to any public university in the state. Students at a public two-year college who complete the core curriculum, along with the Field of Study courses in their degree program, at a public two-year college should automatically qualify for an associate degree and be able transfer their courses as a block to a public four-year university.

How to avoid losing credits

Students can take some steps to minimize credit loss — and save time and money. College transfer experts stressed starting degree planning early and working with high school and college advisers to familiarize themselves with different degree requirements.

Other advice includes:

• Colleges typically list which courses they will accept on their website. Students should check how credits will apply to their planned major.
• Students who are undecided on a major should prioritize taking courses in the core curriculum or widely accepted courses.
• The state has identified a block of courses that must be accepted by any four-year university for some degree programs such as business administration, education, nursing and sociology. See if your degree program has a Field of Study sequence here and follow the listed course sequence.
• Confirm transferability in writing, especially if planning to transfer schools.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.