State of the District

Chancellor Flores highlights goal of enhancing business and industry partnerships at Moonshot Milestones: State of the Alamo Colleges District event

Alamo Colleges District Chancellor Dr. Mike Flores recently delivered his inaugural Moonshot Milestones: State of the Alamo Colleges District address in which he spoke about progress made toward institutional goals in his first five years of tenure and provided a look forward to the future, emphasizing the importance of strengthening business and industry partnerships. 

About 200 attendees, made up of business and community partners, attended the event held on February 13 at the San Antonio Botanical Garden, which the San Antonio Business Journal co-hosted. 

The event also featured a fireside chat with Dr. Harrison Keller, Commissioner of Higher Education, on joint efforts to expand the Texas talent pipeline, and House Bill 8, a historic $683 million investment in community colleges that rewards schools for getting students to complete a degree or certificate. 

During his presentation, Flores highlighted the economic challenges facing San Antonio and how the Alamo Colleges is ensuring individuals can prosper. The average associate degree graduate from the Alamo Colleges will see an increase in earnings of $9,400 each year compared to someone with a high school diploma working in Texas. 

“We know what the ROI is, and we know our community, but the moonshot is about looking at our context, realizing the opportunity we have as the Alamo Colleges … to change the trajectory of our community and create more credentialed talent. Our moonshot is to partner to end poverty through education and training – whether that’s a certificate, an associate degree, and soon workforce-oriented baccalaureate degrees,” said Flores.

Flores highlighted progress made in the past five years on supporting access, success, and completion across the District, noting that enrollment is up 16%; college freshman enrollment has surged by 56%; high school dual credit enrollment has increased by 8%, and time to degree has decreased by eight months from 4.4 years to 3.7 years. 

Among other initiatives highlighted during his presentation were AlamoPROMISE, which is now offered to graduating high school students across Bexar County, the creation of a robust student advocacy network across all five colleges, AlamoBOOKS+, which provides easy textbook rentals to eligible students, the launch of bachelor of nursing program at San Antonio College, the work of Transfer Advising Guides, which has reduced time to completion, and the recent culmination of a $450 Groundbreaking Futures million bond project.

Flores also spoke about future milestones for the District – including a goal to double workforce capacity in five years, additional bachelor’s degree programs in high demand fields, the addition of 4,000+ new nurses to the workforce by 2028, an enhanced emphasis on micro-credentials and marketable skills, and the expansion of workforce learning to offer more hands-on training. 

“We have been on a long journey,” said Flores. “We have been able to do big things because of the talents of our faculty and staff, the dreams of our 70,000+ students in partnership with each of you, and we have achieved a moonshot with AlamoPROMISE. But we have other things in the North Star that we would like to achieve.”

To help elevate workforce training in the Greater Bexar County Region, visit alamo.edu/partner