NICC students are in Des Moines Thursday and Friday to talk with state legislators

A delegation of students from Northeast Iowa Community College is visiting Des Moines Thursday and Friday to attend a state conference and to meet with state legislators.

The group includes two Ossian residents--Samantha Barness, an Associate in Applied Science-Business Specialist major at NICC Calmar, and Lacey Tieskoetter, an Applied Science-Health Information Technology major at NICC Calmar.

The NICC students will lobby northeast Iowa state legislators in an effort to stem further cuts in funding to community colleges. NICC invited all state senators and representatives from districts in Northeast Iowa to speak to the student delegation during the conference.

"It's important for us to let our legislators know what impact their decisions could have on us," stated Barness. "Iowa already has
shifted a lot of the burden on to the backs of students. Iowa community college tuition is already ninth highest in the nation."

Barness added that Iowa students have more debt after college graduation than students from any other state. "Community colleges are supposed to
be about making higher education affordable for all," she added.