Apply›Alternative Pathways to Enrollment

Path to Admission through Co-Enrollment

The Path to Admission through Co-Enrollment (PACE) is a program offered to select freshman applicants. With PACE, you’ll spend your freshman year on the Forty Acres part-time, taking one class per semester at UT Austin while completing the majority of your coursework at nearby Austin Community College (ACC) – Rio Grande.

If you successfully complete the PACE requirements by the end of the year, you’ll be automatically admissible to a number of majors in the College of Liberal Arts, College of Education, Moody College of Communication or the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. You can then continue your undergraduate studies full time and on time for graduation at UT Austin.

How to Participate

You are not able to apply to PACE. Rather, selected freshmen who apply to UT will be offered PACE for their freshman year.

To Accept the PACE Offer and Co-Enroll:

  • Complete the steps in the freshman After-Admission Checklist.
  • Attend Freshman Orientation and meet with a PACE advisor to learn about additional actions you must take.

PACE Requirements

Each semester, students enrolled in PACE take 12 transferable hours of coursework at Austin Community College (ACC) – Rio Grande. In addition, PACE students take no fewer than three hours of coursework from a pre-approved list of courses at The University of Texas at Austin. Students register for courses with the help of dedicated academic advisors on each campus, ensuring they meet program requirements.

Program Completion

PACE students have one year (two long semesters) in which to accumulate 24 hours in residence at ACC and no fewer than six hours in residence at UT Austin.

  1. To qualify for admission to select majors in the College of Liberal Arts, College of Education and the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, you’ll need:
    1. A cumulative 2.0 grade-point average (GPA) in all courses undertaken at UT Austin.
    2. A cumulative 3.2 GPA in all courses undertaken at ACC.
  2. To qualify for admission to the Moody College of Communication, you’ll need:
    1. A cumulative 3.0 GPA in all UT Austin coursework.
    2. A 3.5 GPA in all courses undertaken at ACC.

Complete terms and conditions are defined in the PACE contract, accessible to MyStatus for those who are offered admission to the program.

Is PACE Right for Me?

Before you decide to co-enroll, we recommend keeping the following in mind. If you’re still unsure about PACE, talk to an admissions counselor about your options.

  • It is not possible to finish PACE early. Prior college credit does not count towards PACE requirements.
  • PACE participants are not able to transfer to colleges, schools or majors outside of the approved majors in the College of Liberal Arts, College of Education, Moody College of Communication or the Steve Hicks School of Social Work.
  • All students offered PACE have the option to participate instead in the Coordinated Admission Program (CAP). In accepting the PACE offer, you cancel your CAP option, and vice versa.

CAP