The IPTC received the $350,000 grant as part of the foundations’ shared Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts initiative. The IPTC is a consortium of 17 Iowa nonprofit colleges and universities and two nonprofit organizations focused on Iowa higher education. MaTina Clark, assistant director for transfer admissions, and Dan Walther, Gerald R. Kleinfeld Endowed Chair in German History, represent Wartburg on the steering committee.
“Wartburg College is excited to collaborate with community colleges near us and throughout the state to welcome their graduates to our campus. In addition to the statewide transfer majors, we will work with partner institutions to develop articulation agreements in specific areas to match student interest,” said Debora Johnson-Ross, Wartburg’s vice president of academic affairs.
Under the grant, private institutions will work to expand their program offerings to include the existing statewide transfer majors of biology, chemistry, English, history, psychology and sociology. Other transfer credit policies also will be implemented, including the expansion of general education articulation agreements and reverse transfer opportunities. A guaranteed admission agreement for students earning Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees at Iowa community colleges is a significant initiative in the grant.
In addition to ensuring the seamless transfer of academic credits, the grant also will fund work that places a greater emphasis on the retention rate for transfer students from community colleges to four-year institutions.
According to the 2022 Fall Enrollment Report from the Iowa Department of Education, fall enrollment across Iowa’s community colleges increased by 502 students from 2021. This increase represents a 0.6 percent rise in the total number of students enrolled last fall: 82,251 compared to 81,749 in 2021. In contrast, community college enrollment nationally decreased by 0.4 percent. Iowa’s increase in community college enrollment is the first since fall 2010 when enrollment peaked at 106,597 students.
“We are passionate about bringing the lifelong benefits of a liberal arts education to students who historically have been excluded from higher education — including low-income students, first-generation students, students of color and immigrant students — who now constitute the new majority of undergraduates and often depend on community college as their gateway to higher education,” said Michael Murray, president and CEO of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.
Andrew Delbanco, president of the Teagle Foundation, highlighted how the grant will help improve the transfer experience for Iowa community college students.
“Teagle is committed to enhancing the educational environment for all students,” he said. “Through this grant, we are pleased to support curricular bridge-building in Iowa that will provide more options for community college students to complete their education at independent colleges well-suited to help them reach their goals, while also bringing greater diversity of background and lived experience to the independent college sector.”
The grant will also fund the redevelopment of the iowaprivatecolleges.org website to help centralize student transfer information for private colleges and universities. A part-time project director will be hired through the grant to coordinate grant activities. The IPTC joins many other states in receiving an implementation grant to open transfer pathways to liberal arts degrees for community college students.
Other members of of the IPTC are Briar Cliff University, Buena Vista University, Central College, Clarke University, Coe College, Cornell College, Drake University, Grand View University, Loras College, Luther College, Morningside University, Mount Mercy University, Northwestern College, Saint Ambrose University, Simpson College and University of Dubuque. The two nonprofit organizations facilitating distribution of the grant money are the Iowa Higher Education Loan Authority and the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges & Universities.