A report in the Omaha World-Herald says a program that’s in it’s fifth-year, is being credited for the growing number of southwest Iowa students who are attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The Metropolitan Advantage Program offers residents or high school graduates living in specified southwest Iowa counties the opportunity to enroll in undergraduate or graduate programs at UNO at a reduced tuition rate. Tuition offered through MAP is said to be “close to the rates charged by the University of Iowa, Iowa State and the University of Northern Iowa.”

Undergraduate MAP student numbers jumped more than 11 percent in this, its fifth year,  to 458, while graduate students increased by 1.2 percent. UNO’s Vice Chancellor for enrollment says the increased number of Iowa students attending the college can be credited, in part, to an increase in the number of counties served through the program. Initially, MAP served only Harrison, Mills and Pottawattamie Counties. But this fall, eight counties were added to the program. They include Cass, Crawford, Fremont, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Shelby and Woodbury. The university also has a recruiter whose job is to specifically recruit and retain students in southwest Iowa. The MAP also works with Iowa Western Community College to make sure the students’ transition from a two-year associate degree to a four-year bachelor degree at UNO is as seamless as possible.