North Iowa Area Community College will soon be joining Des Moines Area Community College and Iowa Valley Community College as the third community college in Iowa with a direct admissions pipeline to Iowa State.

In December, Iowa Valley Community College, a four-campus school with locations in Marshalltown, Iowa Falls, Grinnell and Ellsworth, was announced as the second participant in Iowa State’s Admissions Partnership Program.

The program, designed to allow a easier academic and social transition to community college students interested in transferring to Iowa State, began with DMACC in 2005. Participating students have access to ISU academic advisers as well as services including Parks Library, residence halls, athletic facilities and student pricing on athletic tickets.

“Advising is really the centerpiece of this program,” said Laura Doering, associate registrar at Iowa State. “All of the other benefits are good, but the main focus is really a smooth academic transition.”

Participating students are still subject to the normal admissions process and fees but receive guidance from ISU academic advisers during their time in community college to ensure their classes transfer to Iowa State and are applicable to the major they want to pursue after transferring.

Doering said that participation in the program has already surpassed initial estimates, a fact that has encouraged Iowa State to expand the program to other schools that have traditionally produced a high number of transfer students to Iowa State. She said NIACC has agreed to become the next participant in the APP.

“Like DMACC and Iowa Valley, it has traditionally been one of our larger feeder schools,” she said.

One hundred ninety-eight DMACC students are currently taking part in the original admissions agreement. According to the ISU Department of Residence, ten of those participants have chosen to live in ISU residence halls for the spring semester and according to the ISU Department of Recreation Services, 11 students choose to pay the student activity fee for use of athletic facilities for the fall 2005 semester.

Phil Caffrey, associate director of admissions at Iowa State, said the only current concern with the program is that continued expansion could eventually put a strain on ISU advising resources. He said eventually the workload of advising students on- and off-campus could mean some colleges would need to designate an APP adviser or expand its advising staff.

“Each college manages its advising in a different way,” Caffrey said. “In the future that could take some restructuring, but that is a good problem to have.”

The University of Iowa launched a similar admissions program in 2005 called the 2 Plus 2 Guaranteed Graduation Plan. The U of I plan, affiliated with Kirkwood, Eastern Iowa Community College and Iowa Western Community College, offers similar advising and social incentives, but is restricted to transfer students pursuing certain selected majors at Iowa.

Doering did not say when NIACC would officially begin participating in the APP.