Attendance Counts in Northeast Iowa is the newest initiative to be awarded
The Iowa Department of Education announced that it has awarded $370,622 to nine communities in Iowa to fund Local College/Career Access Network (LCANs) activities and community partner coordinators for the 2024-25 academic year. These local networks identify and work to meet community goals focused on increasing postsecondary education credential attainment.
“Leveraging purposeful partnerships, LCANs support students pursuing their unique pathways to postsecondary success through high school and beyond,” said Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow. “The Department will continue to partner with communities to provide students what they need to meet high expectations and realize their incredible potential.”
The Iowa Department of Education’s Bureau of Iowa College Aid provides comprehensive technical assistance, consultation and professional development opportunities, including the annual LCAN spring conference. Each LCAN assesses the needs of its community and works to address gaps in partnership with local colleges, school districts, area education agencies, business groups, elected officials, employers and community and religious organizations. Narrowing and closing postsecondary education completion gaps, especially by meeting the needs of first-generation students and students from low-income families, is consistently identified as a community need and prioritized.
“We are proud to maintain the services of our existing LCANs while also welcoming new communities to the program,” said Bureau of Iowa College Aid chief David Ford. “The LCAN program continues to expose students to multiple career and postsecondary education opportunities to build strong and vibrant communities across Iowa.”
The LCAN grant series is a four-year model with annual awards to new grantees averaging $50,000 and sustaining grants of $30,000, which were awarded to five LCAN communities that recently completed their grant cycle. Eight of the nine LCANs funded for this year are returning grantees.
The newest initiative to receive LCAN funding is Attendance Counts in Northeast Iowa, serving Iowans in Allamakee, Dubuque, Clayton, and Jackson counties. The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque will serve as the fiscal agent on this grant, which will partner with cross-sector leaders in those counties to address chronic absenteeism and increase high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment and completion rates.
Since the first LCANs were formed in 2015, nearly $4 million has been invested in more than 20 communities in Iowa to increase college and career attainment.
Following is a list of the FY2025 LCAN grant recipients by year:
Year I:
- Attendance Counts: Four-county LCAN in Northeast Iowa focused on reducing chronic absenteeism to increase graduation rates and postsecondary enrollment and completion.
Year III:
- Math Pathways to Success: Statewide LCAN focused on increasing postsecondary enrollment and completion by ensuring effective mathematics transitions from high school to college for all Iowa students.
Year IV:
- Brother to Brother: Des Moines Metro LCAN focused on increasing the graduation and postsecondary enrollment rate of Black male students.
- Future Ready Perry: Perry LCAN focused on increasing postsecondary enrollment of students at Perry High School and developing clear pathways towards high-demand careers.
Sustaining Grant
- AIM: Muscatine County LCAN focused on cradle-to-career outcomes for students by aligning community resources and identifying effective practices for implementation to reduce achievement gaps and increase postsecondary attainment.
- Black Hawk CAN: Black Hawk County LCAN focused on improving postsecondary outcomes for high school students and adult learners by assisting individuals in the pursuit and achievement of their educational pathways toward workplace success.
- Latinos CAN: Statewide initiative focused on improving postsecondary outcomes for Latino students and narrowing and closing postsecondary attainment gaps.
- OPT-in CAN for System Involved Youth: Statewide initiative focused on postsecondary pathways, including enrollment and completion, for system-involved youth, particularly students aging out of the foster care system.
- Story County CAN: Story County LCAN focused on improving postsecondary outcomes and supporting access to multiple postsecondary pathways for high school students and community members by strengthening and fostering cross-sector community partnerships.
More information on LCANs is available on the Iowa Department of Education website: Local College Access Networks | Department of Education (iowa.gov)