May 29, 2011

Small Colleges in Iowa Scrap for Students and Survival

Iowa's Multitude of Small Colleges Scrap for Students and Survival 1

Beth Petsche, Upper Iowa University

Colleges in towns like Fayette, Iowa, use income from a variety of off-campus and online programs to keep open.

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Beth Petsche, Upper Iowa University

Colleges in towns like Fayette, Iowa, use income from a variety of off-campus and online programs to keep open.

By Lawrence Biemiller

Sioux Center, Iowa

Here's one way to appreciate the challenges that Iowa's two dozen or so small private colleges face as the number of high-school students in the upper Midwest continues to fall: Head up U.S. 75 to this northwestern town of 6,500, pass the big Farmers Co-Op Society elevator, and take a right on Seventh Street NE to reach Dordt College. Find the Campus Center and take a look through the windows of Carl E. Zylstra's office.

Off to the left is the chapel—Dordt is closely affiliated