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Eastern Iowa Community Colleges receive accreditation of high school programs
Eastern Iowa Community Colleges (EICC) has entered a select group of colleges and universities across the nation that have received accreditation of their high school concurrent enrollment programs.
The National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP) announced today that EICC has passed an extensive review process and been granted national accreditation. NACEP accreditation validates the quality of college courses offered in high schools and ensures the course content and student expectations match the same standards for the classes taught at the college level.
“We have a strict process in place to ensure that the classes we offer in the high schools, as well as the faculty who teach them, meet the same high standards as we have for our traditional college classes,” EICC Chancellor Dr. Don Doucette said. “The NACEP accreditation testifies to that and provides students, and their parents, with confidence in the education they are receiving.
"We believe that strong concurrent enrollment partnerships with our local high schools are a key piece to solving the educational puzzle, ensuring high standards and student success," he said.
EICC includes Clinton, Muscatine and Scott Community Colleges. It has long been a leader in providing college and technical education for high school students while they are still in high school. College instructors teach the classes in the high school buildings, making it convenient for students to fit the college classes into their high school class schedule.
The college maintains partnership programs with 19 high schools throughout its service area. More than 2,000 students are enrolled in concurrent programs in this semester alone.
Through a special state program, most students do not pay tuition for those classes. Dr. Doucette pointed out that during the last fiscal year the program collectively saved students and their parents nearly $2.6 million.
That figure is compared to what they would have paid at the community college tuition rate. It saves them several times more when compared to the higher tuition rates charged at private colleges and technical institutes.
“That’s a tremendous financial benefit for these families,” he said. “These students are really getting a step up toward the education and training they will need to be successful once they graduate from high school.”
These courses build strong relationships between high schools and colleges that help ensure a smooth transition to college. The college’s articulation agreements with both area private colleges and the state universities make transferring credits a smooth transition. Upon graduating, students take the credits they have earned and transfer them to the college they will be attending in the fall, giving them a head start on their college education. High school students taking career technology classes will be able to transfer those credits into the career programs at Clinton, Muscatine and Scott Community Colleges.
Completing classes through EICC provides an alternative for students who might not be interested in taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses in their high school. Annually, more high school students in the EICC service area enroll in the college’s concurrent enrollment classes than in the AP options.
Not only do concurrent enrollment courses save students and parents money, they also accelerate student progress toward a degree. A recent Iowa State University study demonstrated that students who begin at the university having earned college credit in high school earn higher GPAs, graduate at higher rates and graduate sooner than students who enter without college credits.
“These courses also provide some high school students with college-going aspirations who might not have considered college a possibility,” Dr. Doucette said. “Once they have completed one or more of these courses while still in high school, and discover they can be successful, it leads to greater things for them in the future.”
EICC was among 22 colleges and universities receiving accreditation today, including several other Iowa community colleges.
“Iowa community colleges have had quality concurrent enrollment programs for a number of years, but preparing for NACEP accreditation has helped colleges demonstrate to the public that these offerings are of high quality,” said Jeremy Varner, Education Program Consultant at the Iowa Department of Education. “The NACEP process has helped concurrent enrollment programs obtain the institutional resources to better involve faculty and provide greater oversight of the programs.”
NACEP has worked for many years to improve the quality of concurrent enrollment courses offered by all higher education institutions, providing students an assurance that the courses they take are true college courses.
To earn accreditation from NACEP, concurrent enrollment programs conduct a self-study, document how their programs adhere to NACEP’s 17 standards, and are evaluated by peer reviewers from NACEP-accredited programs. NACEP’s standards were developed and refined over many years, serve as a model for quality standards in 15 states, and are adaptable to a wide range of higher education institutions.
More information about NACEP can be found at www.nacep.org For more information about EICC’s programs go to www.eicc.edu/connection