Fifteen Iowa community college presidents met on April 23 in Des Moines to sign the Iowa Private Transfer Guarantee admission agreement with the Iowa Private Transfer Collaborative that aims to streamline the transfer process for Iowa community college and qualifying high school students to private four-year institutions.
The Iowa Private Transfer Collaborative is a group of 18 private, nonprofit colleges and universities across the state of Iowa that received a three-year, $350,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis and Teagle foundations in June 2023 to support this initiative. The grant will fund work across the state aimed at bringing together faculty from community colleges and four-year institutions to ensure the seamless transfer of academic credits. It places a greater emphasis on the retention rate for students who transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions.
In addition to signing the Iowa Private Transfer Guarantee, participating private institutions are working to make their campuses more transfer-friendly in terms of accepting existing transfer majors from community colleges and identifying ways to make their campuses more receptive to transfer students.
“This collaborative work is going to have a tremendous impact on students across the state, especially those who have historically been excluded from higher education -including low-income students, first-generation students, students of color and immigrant students – who often depend on community college as their entry point into higher education,” says Mark Putnam, Central College president. “We look forward to making our campus a place that welcomes transfer students and sets them up for success in meeting their educational goals.”
The Iowa Private Transfer Guarantee applies to students who are pursuing an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree at any Iowa community college. Through this agreement, they are guaranteed admission to the IPTC’s 18 private colleges and universities across the state, bringing educational opportunities closer to home for many community college students.
Under the grant, private institutions will work to adopt the existing statewide transfer majors of biology, chemistry, English, history, psychology and sociology. Other transfer credit policies will also be implemented, including the expansion of general education articulation agreements and reverse transfer opportunities.
For clarification, high schoolers completing their associate degrees while still in high school must still apply to Central through the first-year/freshman application process but are considered eligible students under the Iowa Private Transfer Guarantee agreement. All students must apply to their intended four-year schools, either through the transfer or first-year admission process.
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 was 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.
Participating community colleges are Des Moines Area Community College, Eastern Iowa Community College, Hawkeye Community College, Iowa Central Community College, Iowa Lakes Community College, Iowa Valley Community College, Iowa Western Community College, Indian Hills Community College, Kirkwood Community College, North Iowa Area Community College, Northeast Iowa Community College, Northwest Iowa Community College, Southeastern Community College, Southwestern Community College and Western Iowa Tech Community College.
Members of the IPTC are Briar Cliff University, Buena Vista University, Central College, Clarke University, Coe College, Cornell College, Drake University, Graceland University, Grand View University, Loras College, Luther College, Morningside University, Mount Mercy University, Northwestern College, Saint Ambrose University, Simpson College, University of Dubuque and Wartburg College. 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.
