High school students from Southwestern Community College’s region have a unique online learning opportunity this summer! Beginning June 8, Southwestern is offering three credit courses from the pre-nursing outline; due to state funding through the Summer College Credit Program, students are eligible to complete these courses free of charge!
Courses offered through the Summer College Credit Program include BIO 151 Nutrition, BIO 162 Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology, and PNN 208 Pharmacology Basics. Starting June 8, these courses are available for dual credit enrollment in the summer eight-week term. In addition to meeting course pre-requisites, students must be in grades nine, 10, 11, or 12 during the 2020-21 school year.
The college offers a pre-nursing course plan for students to complete required courses prior to receiving admission to the nursing program. PNN 208 is an optional pre-nursing course but awards a student one point toward licensed practical nursing (LPN) entrance scoring.
This Summer College Credit Program (SCCP) was authorized in 2018 as part of the Future Ready Iowa Act and supported by an annual $600,000 state appropriation. According to the Iowa Department of Education the SCCP program had three primary goals: provide greater access to college-credit coursework in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs at Iowa’s community colleges by allowing high school students to enroll during the summer at no cost; allow students to explore and start on paths to obtain credentials linked to high-demand fields; and maximize the investment made by community colleges, school districts, business partners, and others in modern CTE facilities and equipment through innovative summer programming.
Students interested in enrolling in the online pre-nursing courses can contact Rachel Ramaeker, SWCC coordinator of secondary programs, by email at
Southwestern offers a diploma program in practical nursing, as well as an Associate of Applied Science degree program in registered nursing.
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