Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — The president of DMACC — the Des Moines Area Community College — says he’s a little concerned about a proposal that would have Iowa’s 15 community colleges — like DMACC and like NCC in Sheldon — offer four-year degrees. The chairman of the Higher Education Committee in the Iowa House asked the colleges to study the issue, and their final report was publicly released this fall. Des Moines Area Community College President Rob Denson discussed the concept during a weekend appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS.
Denson was an administrator at a community college in Florida in the 1990s when it began offering four-year degrees, but Denson says it was because there were more students than slots for Florida students seeking baccalaureate degrees.
The University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa, as well as 18 private colleges and universities in Iowa, have transfer agreements with Iowa community colleges. Denson says the community colleges already are competing against those institutions for first and second year students — and he warns offering four-year degrees at community colleges would likely have the biggest impact on enrollment at Iowa’s private colleges.
The community colleges have told legislators they’d need about 20 million dollars extra over the next five years to set up 40 degree programs in high-demand areas. Denson holds a degree in political science and a master’s in higher education administration from Iowa State University, and in 1979, he earned a law degree from the University of Florida. He’s been president of Des Moines Area Community College since 2003 and plans to retire at the end of this year.
