Recruiting minority students to attend Iowa’s universities

House and Senate Democrats propose to build on Iowa’s success in minority university enrollment by focusing on minority middle school and high school students

(Des Moines) To build on Iowa’s success at increasing the minority enrollment at the three state universities, 23 Senate Democrats and 6 House Democrats today proposed expanding the Iowa Minority Education Act.

The Democratic legislators say Iowa should invest $2 million more to help more middle and high school minority students to shrink the achievement gap and recruit them to attend Iowa’s state universities.

Senator Jack Hatch, a sponsor of Senate File 2052, said, “Iowa’s skilled labor shortage hurts our economic growth.  We can’t afford to let minority students  fall between the cracks.  We should do more to help minority middle school and high school students become Iowa college students.”

The part of the Iowa Minority Education Act that targets middle and high school students is called College Bound.

Representative Ako Abdul-Samad of Des Moines said, “College Bound supports college and university outreach to Iowa minority students to encourage them to pursue opportunities in higher education.  It focuses on academic preparation, family engagement and transitioning from high school to college.”

Representative Deborah Berry of Waterloo said, “The new College Possible program recognizes student decisions to enroll in college is influenced by parents.  Research shows that students from under-represented racial or ethnic groups, low income families, and families where parents did not attend college are at a disadvantage. College Possible provides entire families with help preparing for college, applying for college, and succeeding in college.”

Representative Ruth Ann Gaines of Des Moines said “The new College Go Centers will guide students through their postsecondary opportunities.  The Go Centers will reach out directly to students and parents, connecting them with volunteers, school counselors, college representatives and community leaders committed to building a college-going culture.”

Senator Brian Schoenjahn of Arlington wants the Science Bound program at Iowa State University to expand.

“Enrollment in the program is currently capped due to staffing constraints,” Senator Schoenjahn said, “The goal is to increase participation to an additional 100 students starting with the Fall 2013 and Fall 2014 academic years.”

The scholarship provision of the existing law is called, IMAGES – Iowa Minority Academic Grants for Economic Success.

The IMAGES program awards scholarship of $3,500 per year to Iowa minority students who demonstrate financial need. IMAGES scholarships may be received for a maximum of eight semesters and the student must be making satisfactory academic progress toward their degree.

Senator Jack Hatch of Des Moines noted, “We should increase these scholarships to $5000 so more students and families recognize that this financial help is available for them.”