Iowa Central Community College continues to attract students to its high caliber programs and is seeing hefty increases in enrollment.

The college’s Board of Directors was recently informed that the total number of students is 4,557 across its three campuses in Fort Dodge, Storm Lake and Webster City. That’s up 7.9 percent.

Those students come from 94 of Iowa’s 99 counties. Additionally, the student body includes people from 44 of the 50 states. There are also students from 33 other countries.

In addition to the head count, educational administrators pay a lot of attention to the number of credit hours that those students are pursuing. In that measurement, Iowa Central also saw a big jump of 6.8 percent.

Credit hours for the spring 2022 semester total 44,937.25.

The increases in both total number of students and credit hours are occurring at all three campuses. Growth at all three at the same time hasn’t happened in awhile.

The agriculture, automotive and welding programs posted some of the biggest gains. The nursing program saw an increase in retention, which means that students are staying in the program. That is good for the students and good for the region, which can always use more nurses.

Those 4,557 students picked Iowa Central because it is the college that meets their educational needs. It is a place where students can get the training needed to go right to work. It is also a place where students can complete a couple years of college before going to another school to earn a bachelor’s degree.

It is good to have such a vital institution in our community.