Dubuque’s five colleges, community work as a network of support for students

Students will visit any and all of Dubuque's college's and universities this week for Dubuque College Visit Week. (Photo courtesy of Clarke University)

When a student decides to attend one of the colleges in the Dubuque area, they receive a letter from Dubuque Mayor Brad Cavanagh, welcoming them and thanking them for choosing to pursue their higher education in the community.

With five institutions of higher learning offering services within city limits and more to be found in the region, a network of postsecondary education has formed with support from the community to provide a variety of opportunities for students before and after their graduation.

Dubuque houses Clarke University, Loras College, the University of Dubuque, Emmaus Bible College and the Northeast Iowa Community College Town Clock Business Center, with its Peosta campus nearby. Robert Broshous, vice president of enrollment management and dean of admission at the University of Dubuque, said the four-year, private colleges may look similar on paper, but in reality have very different atmospheres and offerings for students.

“The common saying is ‘small classes, personal attention,’ you know, all of that kind of stuff,” Broshous said. “Those are common features that are applicable at small schools, but the truth of the matter is, each one has its own personality, and you can really feel that when you get on campus, and that’s really the reason we encourage students to come in person and visit, and this is a great time to do it.”

The Dubuque-based universities are partnering to offer students on-campus tours at any and all of the institutions this week for Dubuque College Visit Week, taking place July 29-Aug. 1. Students can schedule their visits online.

Broshous said Dubuque College Visit Week is a collaboration between the Dubuque colleges to give rising seniors or juniors the opportunity to make one trip to see all of their campuses if they wish. This is the fourth year of the event, launched after the end of  Iowa Private Colleges Week, a visit week for private universities across the state.

Collaboration and competition among Dubuque colleges

While there is some “friendly competition” for students,” Loras College Director of Undergraduate Admission Maria Gentile said, “the colleges are so different in their experiences and services that students are able to find the right choice for themselves without too much struggle.”

Julie Cirks, vice president for enrollment management at Clarke University, said if a student is local and is wanting to attend a private institution, they’re probably looking into at least two of the three Dubuque universities, so there is some competition between the colleges. However, each of the private universities is bringing in students from the larger region as well as across the U.S. and the world, so the competition isn’t too dire.

“It’s really up to a student to find the right choice, and I think we’re all really committed to helping students find the right choice,” Gentile said. “So it’s kind of like driving a car, you can have three very similar cars that all drive a little bit different, you know, and so we are all really committed to helping students find the right fit for themselves, whether that’s programmatic, co-curricular, extracurricular, or even academically and financially.”

Tom Kook, vice president for marketing and enrollment at Emmaus Bible College, said having the other colleges and universities so close is more of an asset than a hindrance. With only 180 students on campus for a college that fills a particular niche, Kook said being able to partner with the private universities and community college for programs like nursing, criminal justice and other areas gives their students more opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

They generally don’t compete with the other universities for students either, Kook said.

“Typically if a student is looking for a degree from a bible college or an education from a bible college, they’re not going to be looking at these other schools,” Kook said. “So we don’t really see them as competition.”

Northeast Iowa Community College Admissions Representative Barrett Bell said there’s a little bit of competition between the four-year universities and the community college, but it’s easier to tell students that they could always start off their journey at NICC then move on to further their education at a different Dubuque college. This is made easier with the dual credit agreement the community college has with Emmaus Bible College and the transfer agreements with Clarke University, Loras College and the University of Dubuque.

While there isn’t too much strain on these systems yet, Cirks said there is some competition to be found in finding spots to place students in clinical, social work and education settings for real-world experience. Hospitals and schools only have so many spots available, but those in the Dubuque area are working to make sure local students can find jobs to hopefully keep them around after graduation.

“They really want to try and keep as many of our college students that come to Dubuque, in Dubuque past graduation (as possible),” Cirks said, “So I think a lot of companies, businesses, hospitals, schools, are trying to cultivate that, and so they make it work with the amount of students that we have coming in and trying to get those opportunities in the community.”

Beyond collaborating on programs, university staff and leaders also work together to deal with challenges facing all of higher education. Kook said the university presidents meet twice a year to discuss issues of common interest, such as changes to state and federal regulations on higher education.

One challenge Boshous said the universities were able to help each other with was the new federal student aid rollout, trading ideas on how to disseminate information to families on the delays and problems and how they can access different resources to help finish submitting their forms. Together they were able to put out a consistent message to the community.

The universities are also involved in the Dubuque College Access Network, which Boshous said connects high school students to resources needed to help them achieve their higher education goals.

“There’s just so much opportunity for students in the city of Dubuque and we all recognize that,” Broshous said. “I think we’re all stronger because of each other, and so we’re able to really kind of lean on each other to get through challenges that we might be faced with.”

Community works to help colleges thrive

When Greater Dubuque Development Corporation President and CEO Rick Dickinson first came to Dubuque in 1995, the Dubuque community had criticisms about all of the colleges and universities in the area. He said residents had concerns about the lack of property taxes being gathered and attitudes toward rowdy college students, among other things, but now the community celebrates the institutions, “whether they pay property taxes or not.”

“There’s no downside to having a college or university in your market,” Dickinson said. “If you think there is, there’s something wrong with the community.”

The colleges and universities in the region, in which Dickinson includes the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Divine Word Seminary and Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, employ more than 2,700 people, he said, and create the talent the region needs to be successful.

When asked what challenges may come with having multiple colleges and universities in the region, Dickinson said the most important thing the community has to do is maintain relationships that are strong enough to have frank discussions about how the institutions are doing and to make sure they all survive and thrive.

The community must also make itself an attractive place for students to live and hopefully stay after their time at school is over. Dubuque recently made all public transportation free for all college students, Dickinson said, and Greater Dubuque Development has a program that connects students with employers to get them part-time work that will still allow them to focus on their studies.

Cirks said these efforts in the community have paid off, as an assessment of Clarke graduates found that around one-third of them live within the Dubuque region.

“The community has come to understand that the real value is the product, that talent, that graduate and drawing people from around the country to Dubuque,” Dickinson said. “It’s our responsibility to show them the love and make sure that this is a community of choice, so staying here isn’t about a sacrifice, staying here is about making the right choice.”