{"id":8515,"date":"2026-02-06T17:09:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tsc.edu\/news\/?p=8515"},"modified":"2026-02-23T15:07:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:07:04","slug":"shsu-texas-southmost-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tsc.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/shsu-texas-southmost-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking barriers: COCJ celebrates first graduate of TSC Pathway"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.2&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>By<strong> Arina Garcia<\/strong><br \/><em>Sam Houston State University<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On Dec.12, Alyssa Barrientos was the first student to receive a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shsu.edu\/academics\/majors-programs\/criminal-justice-bachelors.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice<\/a> from the Sam Houston State University College of Criminal Justice (SHSU-COCJ) through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shsu.edu\/academics\/colleges\/criminal-justice\/partnerships\/brownsville-tsc.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SHSU-51ÁÔÆæ (TSC) Pathway<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The first-generation Brownsville, Texas, native chose SHSU for its commitment to student success, accessibility and community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a place where students are supported and encouraged to grow,\u201d Barrientos said. \u201cWhen I became aware that TSC partnered with SHSU, I was immediately very interested and excited about the partnership that would allow me to obtain my degree through a school I had always dreamed of attending.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, SHSU expanded its criminal justice program to Brownsville, offering in-person courses taught by SHSU instructors in a satellite classroom at TSC&#8217;s Tandy Hall. The collaboration led to a new educational model designed to eliminate geographic barriers that hinder student success.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shsu.edu\/news\/2026-news-stories\/cocj-celebrates-first-tsc-path-grad\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Read More<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Arina GarciaSam Houston State University On Dec.12, Alyssa Barrientos was the first student to receive a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from the Sam Houston State University College [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"featured_media":8513,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_gspb_post_css":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[77,23,38,76,16],"class_list":["post-8515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tsc-in-the-news","tag-77","tag-brownsville","tag-cameron-county","tag-rio-grande-valley","tag-texas-southmost-college","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.7 (Yoast SEO v26.7) - 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