Why OnRamps
OnRamps is dedicated to preparing students and teachers for success in an evolving educational landscape—meeting their needs and the needs of partnering school districts, colleges, and universities where they are at.
About Us
OnRamps is a signature initiative of The University of Texas at Austin established in 2011, with support from the Texas Legislature, to provide advanced academic opportunities to high school students and robust professional development to teachers across the state.
Since our inaugural academic year of 2012-2013, OnRamps has been offering dual enrollment and distance education to high school students to engage in authentic college experiences and earn college credit while in the familiarity of the high school setting.
Why dual enrollment? Research revealed that students who have completed two or more dual enrollment courses doubled their chances of earning a bachelor’s degree (Jobs for the Future, 2012). User research also indicated that a primary barrier to offering additional dual credit courses at high school campuses was a lack of credentialed teachers (Bridgespan Group, 2014). We continue to see a call for increasing access to high-quality dual enrollment opportunities that meet college and career standards for success (The University of Texas System, 2018).
How We Have Grown
OnRamps adapted its design to become more aligned with emerging needs of students and educators. OnRamps grew its course offerings from a single Computer Science course to include Precalculus and English. Additionally, OnRamps developed its training for high school teachers to become a robust yearlong professional learning and development experience, offered in-person and virtually, that supports meaningful outcomes for teachers to deepen their understanding of course content and advance instructional approaches to student learning.
Through and through, we support students’ and educators’ pedagogical, social and emotional progress with challenging curriculum and help build the necessary growth mindset and capacity for long-term success.
Our Impact
With a research-based agenda widening our scope, our aspirations for serving the state of Texas have expanded to include the emerging needs of students and educators across the nation. Together, we can reduce barriers to access and opportunity, increase student engagement and postsecondary readiness, and improve teacher retention.
Mission
Four Pillars
Our Team
Enrollment Management | enrollment@onramps.zendesk.com
The Enrollment Management Team provides student support for the course enrollment and college crediting process. They develop resources to help guide students and Instructors through course registration, college credit eligibility, and college credit decisions, as well as compile enrollment data for district reporting.
Instructional Innovation and Implementation | support@onramps.zendesk.com
The Instructional Innovation and Implementation Team is comprised of the brilliant minds that ensure OnRamps courses meet the rigorous standards of higher education institutions while also adapting to meet any modality needs or course implementation progress.
Partnerships and Development | partnerships@onramps.zendesk.com
The Partnerships and Development Team provides yearlong, real-time support and direct service to current school district partners across the 20 regions of Texas. Additionally, they work with new and emerging partners interested in joining the OnRamps community at large whether to bring our Distance Learning Catalog, courses or other offerings to their high school or higher education campuses.
Academic Policy and Distance Learning | OnRampsPLD@austin.utexas.edu
The Academic Policy and Distance Learning Team is comprised of experts in distance and professional learning practices. The team ensures that OnRamps courses meet academic policy standards aligned with the expectations of higher education institutions. Additionally, the team coordinates the yearlong professional learning and development for OnRamps Instructors to ensure that they are receiving the support and tools needed to continue growing in their courses and practice.
Technology | technologysupport@onramps.zendesk.com
The Technology Team is dedicated to serving the technical support needs of students and teachers across the state. These include servicing any issues regarding the online delivery of OnRamps courses, the Canvas LMS, the OnRamps Student Information System (OSIS), LTI tools, UT EID login issues, and general troubleshooting.