Students walk on the campus of Northwestern College in Orange City. (Photo courtesy of Northwestern College)
I love Iowa. After growing up in Ottumwa and graduating from Indianola’s Simpson College, I worked in South Dakota at the start of my career. I enjoyed my years in the Mount Rushmore State, but their higher education system pales in comparison to Iowa’s, and the same is true of other surrounding states. So I’m grateful to have spent the last 18 years in Iowa’s higher education system.
Iowa is the envy of other states when it comes to our full complement of higher education options: three top-notch Regents institutions, 15 excellent community colleges, and 26 nonprofit, private colleges and universities that each contribute to the economy, culture and quality of life in the communities they call home. Iowans are blessed to have access to each of these options, and we desperately need all three to continue flourishing. …