Recently, the Iowa Association for College Admission Counseling hosted our annual Visit the Hill Day at the Iowa Capitol. Approximately 70 attendees joined us including admissions professionals, school counselors, graduate students, CCTC high school and middle school students, with many traveling 1–2 hours to participate. It was encouraging to see such strong engagement and commitment to advocacy for education across Iowa.

The day featured valuable presentations on:
• The Economic Impact of Higher Education in Iowa
• Financial aid updates from ICAN
• Legislative updates and what’s happening within education at the Capitol

We heard from:
● Emily Shields, Director of Community Colleges of Iowa
● Erick Danielson, VP of Programs for ICAN
● ISCA Lobbyists Jim Obradovich, and Jefferson Fink

A special thank you to our Government Relations Committee for planning and executing another successful event. This committee is chaired by Tyler Poldervaart of Kirkwood Community College.

Government Relations Committee:
Tyler Poldervaart, Kirkwood Community College, Chair
Josh D'Amico, Kirkwood Community College
Heather Gaumer, Sallie Mae
Susie Hakeman, Central College
Andrew Eisenman, University of Northern Iowa
Melissa Murphy, Springville High School
Lauren Cerqueira, Iowa City High School
Juan Hernandez, Hawkeye Community College

Advocacy matters. Engagement matters. And bringing together professionals and students to better understand the legislative landscape strengthens higher education across our state. We were also pleased to have additional Chairs and Committee Members in attendance!

A huge thank you to everyone who attended and actively participated in this event. Your engagement, insights, and support made it a meaningful and impactful experience for all involved.