AMES and MASON CITY, Iowa -- Iowa State University and North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) have joined forces to make it more convenient for NIACC students who want to earn a bachelor's degree to transfer to Iowa State. North Iowa Area Community College President Michael Morrison and ISU President Gregory Geoffroy announced the joint admission program at a news conference today on the North Iowa Area Community College campus in Mason City.
Through the Admissions Partnership Program, NIACC students who plan to pursue bachelor's degrees at Iowa State will receive special benefits to help pave the way for academic success at both schools. Students accepted into the Admissions Partnership Program will receive the following benefits while still enrolled at NIACC:
- Advising and guidance from NIACC and Iowa State
- Student services
- Career fairs and career services
- Library facilities
- Extracurricular activities and opportunities
- Recreational facilities and programs
- Athletic events and entertainment events at student prices
- Exhibits and cultural events
- Opportunities to live in ISU housing
This new relationship with NIACC expands Iowa State's outreach with the state's community college students. ISU piloted its Admissions Partnership Program with Des Moines Area Community College in 2006. This academic year, the university will continue to establish partnership agreements with all community colleges in Iowa.
"Our Admissions Partnership Program with Iowa's community colleges has been very successful in giving Iowa students more educational benefits and options, and we are delighted to expand this innovative program with the students, faculty and staff of North Iowa Area Community College," said Iowa State University President Gregory L. Geoffroy. "Iowa's community colleges play an important role in educating Iowa students, and we look forward to welcoming many North Iowa Area Community College students into this program, and, in the future, as students at Iowa State."
"The NIACC/ISU Admissions Partnership program advances the seamless delivery of higher education opportunities for our students, providing another example of higher education acting for the public good," NIACC President Michael Morrison said. "The beneficiaries of this program are our students, their parents/guardians and our entire region."
Students who want to be a part of the Admissions Partnership Program must enroll at North Iowa Area Community College as a degree-seeking student in a program appropriate for transfer. Following admission to NIACC, students will work with their NIACC counselors to complete and submit an Admissions Partnership Program application form. A student who is accepted into the program by Iowa State:
1. Meets with his or her NIACC counselor each semester prior to registration or as required;
2. Consults with an assigned ISU academic adviser to develop a transfer plan and to make any changes to that plan;
3. Follows a course of study at NIACC that will meet ISU entrance requirements and fulfill college and program requirements for his or her intended major;
4. Submits an ISU Undergraduate Application for Admission form and pays an application fee to ISU, one semester prior to transferring to Iowa State.
Additional information about the Admissions Partnership Program is available online at http://www.admissions.iastate.edu/partnership, through a NIACC counselor or through an ISU transfer admissions counselor (515 294-9334 or 800 262-3810). Applications are available now at NIACC.
The ISU-NIACC announcement was part of the ISU Road Scholar Tour, which is designed to help introduce new ISU faculty and staff to the state. More than 30 new university faculty and staff spent the day in north central Iowa, visiting a farm, ethanol plant, high school and NIACC.
