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This January, Grand View College and Drake University teamed up with Des Moines Area Community College to make it easier for students from DMACC to transfer into a four-year degree program at the other two schools. Iowa State University, which was the first to sign up with DMACC, expects to have similar student transfer agreements with all of Iowa’s public community colleges by this May.

These agreements support a growing trend in which more students are earning associate’s degrees from community colleges before transferring to four-year schools to complete their bachelor’s degrees. The partnerships are designed to make that transfer process easier, encouraging students to stay in Iowa, become more educated and eventually find jobs in Central Iowa.

“I think students are seeing the value of starting at the community college, because they don’t want to have much debt when they graduate, so it’s a lot more affordable option,” said Kim Linduska, executive vice president of academic affairs for DMACC. “Community colleges are growing across the state and nation, and the percentage (of students) that are enrolling in community colleges with the intent to transfer is growing, so it’s our responsibility as public entities to make sure that transition is as smooth as possible.”

Today there are 1,166 community colleges in the United States, including 15 public and six independent institutions in Iowa. These schools serve more than half of the nation’s undergraduates, with about 11.6 million students enrolled, according to the American Association of Community Colleges. Forty-five percent of students at community colleges are first-time freshmen.

Though it’s difficult to measure how many of DMACC’s students transfer, Michael Lentsch, director of enrollment management, said of the nearly 9,000 students enrolled in its liberal arts and sciences programs, about two-thirds consider transferring into a four-year program after getting their associate’s degree.

“Where we’re seeing a lot of growth is with those types of students that maybe would have traditionally gone out of high school to a traditional school,” Lentsch said. “They’re starting to spend a year or two here first before they go on.”

Given that around 90 percent of students from community colleges stay in Iowa after they graduate, Linduska said, the majority who want to transfer look for a local school. One of their biggest concerns is how their credits will transfer.

Collaboration between community colleges and other universities and colleges “just eases the transition,” she said, “Because programs change and curriculum changes, students change their mind; if they can have an adviser from the school to which they’re transferring early in the process, it just takes some of the questions away.”

Students who qualify for either Drake or Grand View’s Transfer Resource Initiative (TRI) with DMACC or ISU’s Admissions Partnership Program with 10 community colleges have advisers from both schools who help them decide which courses to take to try to complete their bachelor’s degree in four years. Most programs also offer early orientation and registration for the first semester following transfer, access to both schools’ facilities and the chance to participate in student activities. Students must maintain a minimum grade-point average and meet the same criteria for admissions as other transfer students.

Iowa State was the first to establish a formal transfer agreement with DMACC. In its fall 2007 semester, 342 of ISU’s 1,527 transfer students were from DMACC, compared with 326 the year before. A handful of students are even living on ISU’s campus while they attend DMACC.

The success of this collaboration and the rise in attendance at community colleges have led ISU to work on signing agreements with all of Iowa’s public community colleges. It is expected to sign its 11th agreement with Indian Hills Community College today (March 10) and have all 15 signed by May 15.

“We’re really trying to make sure students know that if they want to come to Iowa State University, they have an opportunity to do so and connect in a way that makes their transition as smooth as possible,” said Marc Harding, director of admissions for ISU.

The Drake and Grand View agreements with DMACC developed from a consortium in which leaders from the three schools meet regularly to discuss common issues. The first students will become enrolled in the TRI program this fall.

Of Drake’s approximately 150 transfer students this past fall, about 65 came from DMACC, up 14 students from the year before. The university hopes to keep the number of transfers from DMACC between 75 and 80, with the goal of the TRI program more to ease the transition process rather than attract more students. The main difference from the ISU agreement is that students cannot live on the Drake campus while attending DMACC.

Grand View has about 150 DMACC transfer students a year and also is looking to ease transition more than boost enrollment. Autumn Jones, a transfer admissions counselor who works with all of the DMACC transfer students, said the program is great for students who have a long-term plan for their higher education and want to map the courses they should take with an adviser. Students also can choose to live at Grand View while attending DMACC if there is enough space.

Drake, Grand View and ISU are not too concerned that these agreements may encourage students to attend a community college rather than complete a four-year program with them.

“I think we’re fortunate here at Drake,” said Tom Delahunt, vice president of admissions and financial aid. “Our enrollment is at an all-time high, and we don’t want it to be any higher.” ISU had its third-largest freshman class on record, and its agreements with community colleges contain a stipulation that neither school will try to compete for students.

Plus, transfer students are excluded from some highly competitive and specialized programs such as ISU’s College of Design and Drake’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. School administrators say the most popular field of study for transfer students is business.

To encourage more collaboration, many of Iowa’s community colleges are going to the same course numbering system, making it easier for students and administration to determine which courses will transfer.

“To the extent that we can connect college students, in this case transfer students, to the community,” Harding said, “we’ll have better retention and overall more satisfaction.”