Students and citizens from across Iowa are invited to explore opportunities for continuing their education beyond a bachelor’s degree at the annual Graduate and Professional School Day.

Over 100 graduate and professional institutions will be attending Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

This event is free and open to the public.

Graduate and Professional School Day brings together a variety of programs offering highly specialized programs from universities including Cornell University, Texas Tech University and the University of Notre Dame.

Beverly Madden, director of Career Planning and Placement Services, said about 600 students attended last year. She anticipates a fair increase this year due to the rising percentage of students interested in graduate and professional education.

“There’s been a nation wide increase in graduate school enrollment,” Madden said.

“I just hope students are making the right decision for going to graduate school and aren’t trying to get out of the job market,” she said.

The Graduate and Professional School Day is a two-day event that began Tuesday with seminars providing information about admission processes. Wednesday’s events will give students opportunity to network with professional institutions.

One of the reasons why so many schools recruit at Iowa State is the enrollment increase in continuing education, Madden said.The other reason is the quality of ISU students.

“Iowa State produces very good quality students, and most schools are dedicated to recruiting ISU students,” she said.

Madden said Iowa State has the biggest Graduate and Professional School Day in the state due to off-campus publicity.

“We publicize not only to ISU students, but also to the two- and four-year institutions across the state,” she said.

Andrew Weiss, senior in biology and the Pre-Med Club’s Liberal Arts and Sciences council representative, said he has been exposed to every form of advertisement.

“Professors talked about it in class and I received the letters and e-mails,” he said. “There was information about it everywhere.”

Weiss said he planned to attend the informational seminars Tuesday so he can be ready for Fall admissions next year.

“I’ve looked into admissions at the University of Iowa, Northwestern [University], Mayo Clinic Medical School and Creighton [University],” he said.