IOWA LAKES PROGRAM RANKS IN TOP 50 NATIONWIDE

An Iowa Lakes Community College academic program has made the ‘top 50’ in Associate’s degrees, according to Community College Week.

In a mid-summer edition of Community College Week, the college’s Natural Resources and Conservation Program was the 18th largest in the country, in preliminary figures for the 2005-2006 college year. That’s up three spots from last year.

This annual publication is a chance for the college to compare itself to some of the largest community colleges and four-year institutions across the country.

In the news article accompanying the data, Community College Week reported that the number of associate degree conferrals increased 2.5 percent in the 2005-2006 academic year.

When compared to previous years the disciplinary areas reviewed in the article showed that the numbers of women outpace men in health, which is dominated by nursing. Also, the pre-professional programs, led by legal assistants, have the biggest representation of women. Men represent a majority of diploma and degree recipients within the agricultural, trades and S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields.

The study pointed out that today’s jobs are becoming more sophisticated and require more than just a course or two to gain employment. And, the report says that a certificate or degree shows the business community and future employers that the graduate has tenacity to complete a project.