Winfield’s Southwestern College and Ark City’s Cowley College are part of a five-school partnership whose goal is to have a positive impact on the current state teaching shortage.
The Educate the State initiative also includes Butler Community College, Friends University, and Newman University. By working together, the institutions have set out to create a seamless and more affordable transfer option for secondary education majors.
In 2022, the Kansas Independent Colleges Association announced a global transfer for any Kansas community college graduate earning associate of arts or science degrees to transfer as a junior status directly to any Kansas private university.
Educate the State takes it a step further as these institutions also guarantee a lower tuition rate at the private university level for those wanting to become K-12 teachers. Tuition per credit hour is discounted to $300 per credit hour at the university level for students in this new program.
Southwestern College president Elizabeth Frombgen says this is a great way to serve the state of Kansas.
“Since our founding in 1885, Southwestern College has proudly prepared and educated teachers who have gone on to serve students and communities all across Kansas,” said Frombgen. “Through cooperative initiatives such as Educate the State we will leverage incentives and partnerships to attract more young people to the vocation of teaching and in doing so we will better serve our communities, and more broadly, Kansas.”
How to Access Educate the State:
- Earn a Secondary Education associate degree from Butler or Cowley with a 2.75 minimum GPA.
- Transfer to Friends, Newman or Southwestern based on subject matter emphasis as a full-time Secondary Education major.
- Receive the discounted $300 tuition rate for final two years regardless of the four-year institution selected.
Cowley Secondary Education Pathways for Educate the State:
Earned Associates of Arts (A.A.) or Associates of Science (A.S.) degree pathway in:
- Secondary Education – Math (AS)
- Secondary Education – Science (AS)
- Secondary Education – Language Arts (AA)
Butler Secondary Education Pathways for Educate the State:
Earned Associates of Arts (A.A.) or Associates of Science (A.S.) degree pathway in:
- Secondary Education (AA)
- Secondary Education Science (AS)
“Educate the State gives Cowley College students an affordable option to pursue a degree in secondary education at one of three high-quality private institutions,” Cowley College president Michelle Schoon said. “This partnership provides opportunities for our students to stay local and fill the shortage of educators in our region.”
Cowley College and Butler Community College students can go on to enroll in the following Secondary Education Pathways at Southwestern College:
Earned Associates of Arts (A.A.) or Associates of Science (A.S.) degree pathway in:
- Secondary Education – Math (AS)
- Secondary Education – Science (AS)
- Secondary Education – Language Arts (AA)
Above photo: The presidents of five area college’s announced a partnership called Educate the State. Signing the agreement were (from L-R) Michelle Schoon, president of Cowley College; Kim Krull, president of Butler Community College; Elizabeth Frombgen, president of Southwestern College; Amy Bragg Carey, president of Friends University; and Kathleen Jagger, president of Newman University.
