Personalized Partnership Helps Nontraditional Students Achieve Bachelor’s Degrees

In fall 2022, the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is expanding its reach to nontraditional and place-bound students, who, because of distance and other obligations, have less access to larger colleges and universities. The move will allow these students to progress from associate degrees to bachelor’s degrees through mainly online courses. The University of Northern Iowa at Iowa Community Colleges (UNI@IACC) is offering affordable academic pathways in these high-growth fields as identified by Future Ready Iowa: business and financial operations, education, social work, and information technology.

UNI has partnered with Indian Hills, Iowa Western, and Western Iowa Tech community colleges and has expanded its more than 25-year partnership with Des Moines Community College (DMACC), which initially focused on elementary education in its UNI/DMACC 2+2 program, to offer bachelor’s degrees with majors related to those high-demand careers as well as a major in liberal studies. The university selected these four community colleges, because nearly 30% of all transfer students come to UNI from colleges in Western and Southern Iowa, where jobs in the aforementioned areas are in high demand.

One of UNI’s greatest strengths is its ability to remove barriers for students. UNI@IACC addresses three key barriers many adult and place-bround learners often face to earn a four-year degree. The first barrier UNI@IACC addresses is location. UNI@IACC provides eight unique programs—ranging from technology management, to educator preparation, to business, criminology, human services, and beyond—without the learner having to leave their hometown.

The second barrier is cost. The UNI@IACC Future Ready Scholarship provides all individuals with an associate’s degree from an Iowa community college who demonstrate financial need as defined through American Rescue Plan guidelines to receive a scholarship that covers the difference between UNI and community college tuition. Importantly, the UNI@IACC Future Ready Scholarship can be added to other need-based financial aid to further reduce—or eliminate—out of pocket expenses for students.

And the third barrier removed by the UNI@IACC initiative is access to the high-touch, personalized educational experience that defines a UNI education. Working with a UNI adviser, UNI@IACC learners will receive personalized attention and support to help them stay on track and connect to university resources. In addition, UNI@IACC learners will benefit from the personalized educational experience delivered by the faculty, developing knowledge and skills employers are seeking while gaining expertise in a high-demand field. 

The UNI@IACC model is designed to respond to the immediate and long-term needs of nontraditional and place-bound learners through its high-touch service and commitment to student success. The university has a reputation for its personalized support of distance-learning students by identifying opportunities, eliminating barriers, and providing support services and resources. In 2018, UNI was recognized as the No. 1 best online college in Iowa by Best Value Schools, receiving this top honor through the “commitment to making distance learning more accessible and technologically innovative, while providing a quality education for undergraduate and graduate students.” The key ingredient in UNI@IACC model is the blend of distance learning with full-time student support specialists who provide holistic and personalized recruitment and academic and career advising services to UNI@IACC learners, all while helping them connect to an intentionally networked system of UNI and community college resources to assure their success.

The UNI@IACC initiative was informed by an impending workforce gap and growing nontraditional and place-bound student populations. Future Ready Iowa reports that by 2025, about 70% of all jobs in Iowa will require education or training beyond high school, resulting in the [AQM1] the state needing an additional 139,000 individuals with postsecondary credentials. The American Council of Education reports that Iowa has more than 230,000 individuals who have started but not earned their four-year degree. Nontraditional students make up about 70% of enrolled postsecondary learners, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, but they struggle to complete their four-year degree because of responsibilities including work and family. These learners tend to fall in one or more of these categories: delayed enrollment from high school, part-time students for at least part of academic year, full-time employees, financially independent individuals, single parents, first-generation students, and low-income status individuals. UNI’s distinctive role in Iowa includes a strong track record of retaining its graduates to pursue their careers or advanced education in the state; at least 4 in 5 graduates from Iowa remain in the state upon completing their UNI degree, and approximately one-half of those from out of state remain in Iowa for work upon graduating from the university. 

The UNI@IACC initiative was informed by an impending workforce gap and growing nontraditional and place-bound student populations. Future Ready Iowa reports that by 2025, about 70% of all jobs in Iowa will require education or training beyond high school, resulting in the [AQM1] the state needing an additional 139,000 individuals with postsecondary credentials. The American Council of Education reports that Iowa has more than 230,000 individuals who have started but not earned their four-year degree. Nontraditional students make up about 70% of enrolled postsecondary learners, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, but they struggle to complete their four-year degree because of responsibilities including work and family. These learners tend to fall in one or more of these categories: delayed enrollment from high school, part-time students for at least part of academic year, full-time employees, financially independent individuals, single parents, first-generation students, and low-income status individuals. UNI’s distinctive role in Iowa includes a strong track record of retaining its graduates to pursue their careers or advanced education in the state; at least 4 in 5 graduates from Iowa remain in the state upon completing their UNI degree, and approximately one-half of those from out of state remain in Iowa for work upon graduating from the university. 

The UNI@IACC initiative was informed by an impending workforce gap and growing nontraditional and place-bound student populations. Future Ready Iowa reports that by 2025, about 70% of all jobs in Iowa will require education or training beyond high school, resulting in the [AQM1] the state needing an additional 139,000 individuals with postsecondary credentials. The American Council of Education reports that Iowa has more than 230,000 individuals who have started but not earned their four-year degree. Nontraditional students make up about 70% of enrolled postsecondary learners, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, but they struggle to complete their four-year degree because of responsibilities including work and family. These learners tend to fall in one or more of these categories: delayed enrollment from high school, part-time students for at least part of academic year, full-time employees, financially independent individuals, single parents, first-generation students, and low-income status individuals. UNI’s distinctive role in Iowa includes a strong track record of retaining its graduates to pursue their careers or advanced education in the state; at least 4 in 5 graduates from Iowa remain in the state upon completing their UNI degree, and approximately one-half of those from out of state remain in Iowa for work upon graduating from the university.

The UNI@IACC initiative was informed by an impending workforce gap and growing nontraditional and place-bound student populations. Future Ready Iowa reports that by 2025, about 70% of all jobs in Iowa will require education or training beyond high school, resulting in the the state needing an additional 139,000 individuals with postsecondary credentials. The American Council of Education reports that Iowa has more than 230,000 individuals who have started but not earned their four-year degree. Nontraditional students make up about 70% of enrolled postsecondary learners, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, but they struggle to complete their four-year degree because of responsibilities including work and family. These learners tend to fall in one or more of these categories: delayed enrollment from high school, part-time students for at least part of academic year, full-time employees, financially independent individuals, single parents, first-generation students, and low-income status individuals. UNI’s distinctive role in Iowa includes a strong track record of retaining its graduates to pursue their careers or advanced education in the state; at least 4 in 5 graduates from Iowa remain in the state upon completing their UNI degree, and approximately one-half of those from out of state remain in Iowa for work upon graduating from the university. 

The Methodology

UNI intentionally created its partnerships with the four community colleges with the goal of maintaining affordable and accessible educational opportunities for nontraditional and place-bound students. It assessed the needs of the community colleges, established programs to meet student and workforce demands, collaborated with administrative leaders to ensure student and academic services are provided, and placed student success specialists as points of contact at the colleges for current and potential students. Tuition equity, another UNI priority, was achieved through Future Ready Scholarships financed by private donors and the business community. These monies allowed students to pay the rate of tuition at the associate degree level into their bachelor’s degree studies. Through these efforts, the university expects to reach new populations of nontraditional and place-bound students, who are necessary for building an educated workforce in the state.

Students in the UNI@IACC program are given needed assistance to navigate the university system and stay on track to graduate. They work with advisers who provide high-touch, personalized support and access to services through the university, including career assessment and planning, off-campus opportunities, and on-the-job experiences. Degrees are available in elementary education; managing business and organizations; management, business administration; criminal justice; and liberal studies. Overall, these partnerships afford the students continuity in their educational experience by maintaining the student success services provided by the community college, while having access to new student success services through UNI.

Key Takeaways

Universities should engage administrative leaders at community colleges on the design of these partnerships on the front end, so they are scaled to the dimensions of the nontraditional and place-bound student community. They should be intentional about the partnership’s guiding principles and goals to help community college leaders who serve communities with easy access to public universities see the financial and academic advantages of community colleges partnering with universities. To grow this partnership from the ground up, a dedicated philanthropic effort is needed. UNI committed much of a full-time position to grow revenue streams, including state funding and donations from private individuals and the business community.