Admissions & Aid

2025-26 Academic Calendar

Fall 2025 Semester

August 18 - Fall 2025 Semester Classes Begin*
August 25 - Online Classes Begin*
September 1 - Labor Day-College Closed
September 19 - All-Staff Advising & Assessment Day, No Classes
September 22 - Online 12-Week Classes Begin*
September 23 - Last Day to Enroll in Fall 2025 12-Week Online Classes
October 13 - Midterm
October 19 - Online First Eight-Week Classes End
October 20 - Online Second Eight-Week Classes Begin*
October 21 - Last Day to Enroll in Fall 2025 Second Eight-Week Online Courses
October 23-24 - Fall Break
October 24 - College Closed (Fall Break)
November 26-28 - Thanksgiving Break - No Classes (Offices open November 26 until noon)
December 8-12 - Final Exam Week
December 12 - Last Day of Fall Semester
December 14 - Fall Semester Online Classes End
December 24 - January 2 - Offices Closed

Winterim Classes

December 23 - January 18 - Winterim Online Classes

Spring 2026 Semester

January 5 - Offices Re-Open
January 12 - Classes Begin*
January 19 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day - College Closed
January 20 - Online Classes Begin*
January 21 - Last Day to Enroll in Spring 2026 First Eight-Week Online Courses
January 22 - Last Day to Enroll in Spring 2026 16-Week Online Courses
February 9 - Online 12-Week Classes Begin*
February 10 - Last Day to Enroll in Spring 2026 12-Week Online Courses
March 6 - Midterm
March 15 - Online First Eight-Week Classes End
March 16 - Online Second Eight-Week Classes Begin*
March 16-20 - Spring Break
March 17 - Last Day to Enroll in Spring 2026 Second Eight-Week Online Courses
March 20 - College Closed
April 17 - Faculty Planning Day, No Afternoon Classes
May 4-8 - Finals Week
May 8 - Last Day of Spring Semester/Commencement
May 10 - Online 16-Week, 12-Week, and Second Eight-Week Classes End

Summer 2026 Session

May 11 - Career & Technical Education Session Begins*
May 25 - Memorial Day-College Closed
May 26 - Online First Eight-Week Summer Term Classes Begin*
May 27 - Last Day to Enroll in Summer 26 Eight-Week Online Courses
June 1 - Summer Session I, Arts and Sciences Classes Begin*
June 8 - Online Second Eight-Week Courses Begin*
June 9 - Last Day to Enroll in Summer 2026 Second Eight-Week online Courses
June 26 - Summer Session I, Arts and Sciences Classes End
June 26 - Career & Technical Education Session Ends
July 2 - Last Day to Enroll in Summer 2026 Online Four-Week Term
July 3 - Independence Day Observance-College Closed
July 6 - Summer Session II, Arts & Sciences Classes Begin*
July 6 - Online Four-Week Courses Begin*
July 19 -  Online First Eight-Week Summer Term Classes End
July 31 - Summer Session II, Arts & Sciences Classes End
August 2 - Online Four-Week Courses End
August 2 - Online Second Eight-Week Courses End

* Tuition and fees due. Paid in full or enrolled in Nelnet Tuition payment plan through SWCC business office.

2024-25 Academic Calendar

Fall 2024 Semester

August 21 - Fall 2024 Semester Classes Begin*
August 27 - Online Classes Begin*
September 2 - Labor Day-College Closed
September 20 - All-Staff Advising & Assessment Day, No Classes
September 23 - Online 12-Week Classes Begin*
September 24 - Last Day to Enroll in Fall 2024 12-Week Online Classes
October 16 - Midterm
October 20 - Online First Eight-Week Classes End
October 21 - Online Second Eight-Week Classes Begin*
October 22 - Last Day to Enroll in Fall 2024 Second Eight-Week Online Courses
November 27-29 - Thanksgiving Break - No Classes (Offices open November 27 until noon)
December 9 -13 - Final Exam Week
December 13 - Last Day of Fall Semester
December 15 - Fall Semester Online Classes End
December 23 - January 3 - Offices Closed

Winterim Classes

December 23 - January 21 - Winterim Online Classes

Spring 2025 Semester

January 6 - Offices Re-Open
January 20 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day - College Closed
January 13 - Classes Begin*
January 13 - Online Classes Begin*
January 14 - Last Day to Enroll in Spring 2025 First Eight-Week Online Courses
January 16 - Last Day to Enroll in Spring 2025 16-Week Online Courses
February 10 - Online 12-Week Classes Begin*
February 11 - Last Day to Enroll in Spring 2025 12-Week Online Courses
March 7 - Midterm
March 9 - Online First Eight-Week Classes End
March 10-14 - Spring Break
March 14 - College Closed
March 17 - Online Second Eight-Week Classes Begin*
March 18 - Last Day to Enroll in Spring 2025 Second Eight-Week Online Courses
April 11 - Faculty Planning Day, No Afternoon Classes
May 11 - Online 16-Week, 12-Week, and Second Eight-Week Classes End
May 5-9 - Finals Week
May 9 - Last Day of Spring Semester/Commencement

Summer 2025 Session

May 12 - Career & Technical Education Session Begins*
May 26 - Memorial Day-College Closed
May 27 - Online First Eight-Week Summer Term Classes Begin*
May 28 - Last Day to Enroll in Summer '25 Eight-Week Online Courses
June 2 - Summer Session I, Arts and Sciences Classes Begin*
June 9 - Online Second Eight-Week Courses Begin*
June 10 - Last Day to Enroll in Spring 2025 Second Eight-Week online Courses
June 27 - Summer Session I, Arts and Sciences Classes End
June 27 - Career & Technical Education Session Ends
June 30 - Summer Session II, Arts & Sciences Classes Begin*
July 3 - Last Day to Enroll in Summer 2025 online Four-Week Term
July 4 - Independence Day-College Closed
July 7 - Online Four-Week Courses Begin*
July 20 -  Online First Eight-Week Summer Term Classes End
July 25 - Summer Session II, Arts & Sciences Classes End
August 3 - Online Four-Week Courses End
August 4 - Online Second Eight-Week Courses End

* Tuition and fees due. Paid in full or enrolled in Nelnet Tuition payment plan through SWCC business office.

ACCREDITATION
Southwestern Community College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, (hlcommission.org), a regional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The college is also accredited by the Iowa Department of Education. Programs have been approved by the Veterans and Military Education Unit of the Iowa Department of Education for veterans education benefits through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Special Accreditation for Academic Programs:

• The ADN and LPN programs are approved by the Iowa Board of Nursing.
• The auto collision repair/refinish and automotive repair technology programs are certified by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF).
• The electrical technology program is approved by the Iowa Electrical Board Post-Secondary Electrical Program.
• Concurrent enrollment programs are accredited by the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP).

GRADING SYSTEM

The GPA is obtained by multiplying the number of points assigned to the letter grade received in each course by the number of credit hours attempted for the course to arrive at the total points earned in each course. Divide the sum of the grade points by the total number of credit hours attempted. The quotient represents the GPA. There is a semester GPA and a cumulative GPA on all student permanent records.

REPEATED COURSES
The most recent enrollment in a course is the grade used to calculate the grade point average. All previous enrollments of that course are recorded on the transcript but not calculated in the GPA.

CLASSIFICATION

• Freshmen - Less than 28 credit hours earned
• Sophomore - 28 or more credit hours earned

COMPLETION OF DEGREE/DIPLOMAS
Degrees/diplomas completed are entered on the transcript at the point they are awarded and indicate the type of degree/diploma and conferral date.

Note: Developmental courses do not count toward associate degrees.

ACADEMIC CALENDAR
Southwestern Community College operates on a 16-week semester system. Credit is expressed in semester hours.

CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDS
In accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, this transcript must not be released to a third party without written authorization of the student.

DEGREES CONFERRED

• Associate of Arts
• Associate of Science
• Associate of Applied Arts
• Associate of Applied Science
• Associate of General Studies
• Diploma
• Certificate

NONDISCRIMINATION STATEMENT
Southwestern Community College’s nondiscrimination statement is located on the General College Information page on the SWCC website.

Effective April 6, 2020, Southwestern Community College implemented a Pass/No Pass Policy that may be applied to most face-to-face courses that transitioned to online delivery, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during the spring 2020 semester.

Spring Commencement Ceremony – Friday, May 8, 2009, 7:30 p.m. SWCC’s Student Center

Watch for the list of prospective Grads in the March 25 issue of the SWCC Weekly Student Edition.

Deadline to order Graduation Invitations for spring commencement is April 3 at the SWCC Bookstore.

See financial aid for exit loan counseling information.

GPA Calculator Instructions

This calculator accepts letter grades with either upper or lower case.
(i.e. A, b, C, d, F)

If you are taking a class that is .5 credit you need to enter it as 0.5 credit.

Current Semester

To calculate estimated GPA for the current semester, enter anticipated grade and total credits for each course for up to six courses, and press the button marked “Calculate Estimated Current Semester GPA.” 

“Repeat?” column is ignored in this calculation

To calculate estimated effect of the current semester on your cumulative GPA, also enter your cumulative GPA and total credits for semesters prior to the current semester, and then press the button marked “Calculate Estimated Cumulative GPA.” 
Because of round-off uncertainties, any result which relies upon a precision of +/-3 in the second decimal place should be checked by hand (e.g., if one needs to be certain whether it is 2.999 or 3.0).

Related Courses:

If any class in the current semester is a repeat of a course in which an earlier grade has been earned, the old grade for that course must be entered in the rightmost column in order for cumulative GPA to be properly computed.

Use “Reset All” to clear and restart. Use “Create Printable Report” to take you to a page showing your results which can be printed easier.  You must first calculate the current semester GPA to use the print feature.  If you calculate the cumulative GPA before printing, that will be on the report as well.