Scholarships for USA’s Priyanthi warmly received at Indian Hills

Wednesday, 8 January 2014 00:03 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Indian Hills Community College was recently paid a visit by Priyanthi Dissanayake from Scholarships for USA. Priyanthi is a promoter of US education for international students, and since 2001 she has been very successful in helping youth from Sri Lanka gain access to top colleges and universities. So the folks at Indian Hills were thrilled that she made the two-year school in Ottumwa, Iowa one of her stops as she looks to find a good fit for Lankan youth at US schools. One of the first people that Priyanthi talked to was Dr. Matt Thompson, Indian Hills Vice President, Academic Affairs. Thompson told her about IHCC’s past collaboration with four-year schools in Iowa and throughout the Midwestern part of the United States. She learned that there are a number of Indian Hills students who have obtained their two-year Associate of Arts (AA) degree and then transferred to other schools, such as Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, where they have gotten a degree in engineering. Indian Hills has many articulation agreements already in place, and these agreements with four-year schools allow for a seamless transfer of credits from IHCC. One of the main benefits of this arrangement is that, by attending Indian Hills, students can get the first two years of their college education at a fraction of the cost of what they would pay at a four-year college or university. So they save thousands of dollars by starting their college education at Indian Hills. And, Priyanthi was told by Le Harvey, head of Indian Hills’ nursing program, that Indian Hills graduates more nurses than any other school in the state, and that includes the four-year schools in Iowa. In addition to nursing, information was provided about the Indian Hills aviation programs. Indian Hills is one of the few colleges in Iowa that offers training in aviation. The school offers degrees in pilot training, aviation maintenance and avionics. The flight training includes advanced full-motion experience and visual flight simulation in a state-of-the-art flight simulator. Freddy Miranda is the Director of International Affairs at Indian Hills and Ashley Albertson is his assistant. They emphasised to Priyanthi that they provide a “home away from home” for the college’s international students, helping them with immigration questions, sponsoring fun activities and, in general, meeting the needs of that student population. Indian Hills prides itself on being a safe campus with 24-hour security. Priyanthi was able to take a campus tour and see one of the more impressive community college campuses in Iowa. There are five on-campus residence halls, all of them home to a number of international students. Indian Hills Community College has built a solid reputation for its outstanding programs, instructors, staff and facilities for over four decades. The college has three academic divisions – arts and sciences, technical programs and health occupations programs. The arts and sciences courses are designed for students who want to complete a two-year degree and then transfer to a four-year school. The wide variety of technical education programs available at Indian Hills provides the skills and knowledge essential for successful entry into an occupation. Graduates of these technical programs often have a job waiting for them in their chosen field before they receive their diploma or degree. The health occupations program includes the top-flight nursing program and over a dozen other academic pathways. In addition, Indian Hills has a robust online learning program with more than 160 online courses offered in subjects related to the arts and sciences, advanced technologies and health occupations. Miranda expressed how happy he was that Priyanthi chose Indian Hills to get information on an Iowa community college and said he looks forward to working with her in the future as Indian Hills expands its international focus.

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