Iowa Central Online

Area high school students taking more college courses

High schools throughout the region are seeing a rise in the number of the students taking advantage of district-paid opportunities in partnership with Iowa Central Community College.

Southeast Webster-Grand High School, Burnside, has operated a charter school for five years, according to Superintendent Launi Dane.

"We offer concurrent courses here on the campus, on the high school site," Dane said. "And then we bus kids up to Iowa Central and they're allowed to take any course up there."

College courses offered at Southeast Webster-Grand include introductory English literature, composition, business courses, and career and technical classes.

Dane said the number of students taking courses in her district varies.

"We used to get about half of our seniors taking them, and now we're up to a third," she said. "It depends on the class."

Last year, Dane said, they had a senior who spent all day, every day, at Iowa Central in its automotive department.

"He never came to any classes here," she said. "He was up there full time."

Dane said she thought the classes, which the district pays for, were beneficial to the students.

"It's a good opportunity for them," she said.

Students at Prairie Valley High School are also taking advantage of the opportunity through Iowa Central, said James Dick, Prairie Valley Community School District superintendent.

"They take some dual-credit online courses if they're not able to get them through Iowa Central or the district," Dick said.

Dick said the number of students at Prairie Valley taking the courses, though, has been consistent from year to year.

"Every year there tends to be a little bit of an increase but not a lot," he said. "We have a lot of students that take advantage of it."

Dick also thinks the courses are beneficial for students.

"I think it benefits both the district and Iowa Central because it normally gets more kids into the community college that way, and kids get both high school and college credit," he said.

Humboldt High School students are also taking concurrent courses through Iowa Central, according to Humboldt Community School District Superintendent Greg Darling.

"We have a large number of kids taking classes," Darling said. "We average 12 to 15 credit hours for each student that graduates."

While that number hasn't explicitly increased, Darling said, Humboldt High School is offering a greater variety of college courses.

Iowa Central online programs ranked among top in nation ...

Iowa Central Community College's online distance learning program has been named among some of the top in the United States.

According to the Guide to Online Schools, Iowa Central College Online, Iowa Central's online satellite, ranked second in the nation in 2010 among distance learning programs.

The online program allows students across the country to enroll at Iowa Central, taking an average of two online courses every eight weeks.

"Most of our online students are going every eight weeks," said T.J. Martin, dean of distance learning at Iowa Central. "It takes about two years and they earn an associate's degree."

The programs offered through Iowa Central College Online include computer networking, health care administration, human services and a general education associate of arts degree.

The approximately 500 students enrolled in the program are able to log in and complete their classes at their convenience.

"They get to choose when they are online," said Martin. "Most are on at least four times in a week; and they do have weekly homework deadlines."

Martin said it is not just the students who come from all over the country. Instructors for the courses represent at least 24 states.

"The instructors come from several states, and major cities, which an offer a whole different perspective on a field for the students, said Martin. "What they might hear in a criminal justice class from an instructor in Iowa is going to be completely different from what they might hear from an instructor who has worked in inner city Chicago or Orlando."

The program has a high enrollment and graduation rate, with students enrolling in classes and completing their education on a monthly basis.

"We're starting students every month, which is part of what has made us so successful," Martin said. "And we graduate a small group every month, which makes it unique. Many of these students never step foot on the Iowa Central campus, but we do invite them back for commencement in May. We have had a few students come from out of state to graduate, and it is always neat to finally meet them face to face after getting to know them so well through their courses."

Among some of the students enrolled in the program have been military soldiers serving overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This allows them to continue their education when they are deployed," said Martin. "Most of the soldiers we have had are back in the United States, but they do an excellent job in their classes. Some have said it's been an advantage to them because it keeps their minds occupied during their deployments.

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