Local community college earn top scholarship ranking

Iowa Lakes Community College has earned top rankings for 2023 from Intelligent.com, which recently ranked Iowa Lakes Community College as the top community college in Iowa for best scholarship options and the sixth-best community college overall.

“This is all about our donors,” said Dr. Daniel Lutat, executive director of foundation and government afairs at Iowa Lakes. “Our communities, business partners, faculty, staff and alumni display a great sense of pride and ownership in our mission to support student success.”

Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for program rankings and higher education planning, uses research to identify top schools in the state and then implements a unique methodology that ranks each institution on a scale from 0 to 100 across six categories. The scoring system compares each school to tuition costs, admission, retention and graduation rates, faculty, reputation, and the student resources provided for online students. Iowa Lakes received 92.94 out of 100.

Studies show a substantial increase in income for people who earn a degree, with graduates earning 84% more than those with only high school diplomas. Moreover, as people earn higher-level degrees like master’s, doctoral or other professional degrees, the percentage difference in earnings continues to increase.

With almost $765,000 in scholarships awarded yearly through more than 150 available scholarships and the average student award being $2,000, Iowa Lakes is a great place to increase earnings potential through education.