New York - December 19, 2012 ? LearningExpress, LLC announces that Iowa Library Services (State Library of Iowa) has selected LearningExpress Library® as their workforce-related online resource for Iowa job seekers. This platform will provide Iowans with anytime, anywhere, online access to a comprehensive selection of career-oriented and academic resources to help with job preparation, career advancement, career changes, and re-entry to the workforce.

Iowa Library Services selected LearningExpress from among several competing organizations in the state's formal RFP process to provide Iowa libraries and workforce centers with an online platform for job seekers, "which prepares them for success in the workplace using tools and resources that improve job skills and vocational test-taking skills."

The online tools from LearningExpress are easy-to-use and user friendly. Included in the Iowa subscription are tutorials, practice tests and exercises, eBooks, and Computer Skills Tutorials. Computer Skills include both Popular Software Tutorials, which help improve one's skills using today's most widely used applications, and Computer and Internet Basics, to guide individuals completely unfamiliar with using computers or accessing the Internet to competency and beyond.

Mary Wegner, State Librarian, Iowa Library Services stated, "Everyone involved in the selection process is very pleased and excited about being able to offer LearningExpress Library through public and academic libraries and Iowa Workforce Development Centers." Through funding from the Iowa Workforce Development agency (IWD), LearningExpress platforms will be available at no charge to all Iowa public and academic libraries.

Mary Wegner's sentiment is resounded by Barry Lippman, President and CEO of LearningExpress: "We are excited to expand our many long-standing working relationships with individual libraries to work directly with the State Library of Iowa and Iowa Workforce Development, to provide comprehensive workforce solutions to all Iowa residents."

About LearningExpress, LLC?LearningExpress, LLC is an educational technology company founded with the mission to help adult and student learners improve basic skills required for academic and career success. The company currently serves over 6,000 public libraries, 5,000 schools, and 1,200 colleges across the United States and Canada, and helps more than 1.8 million adults and students each year. Visit LearningExpress, LLC at http://www.learningexpressllc.com.

The Rivermont Collegiate Board of Trustees has selected Rod Ossowski as the school's new Director of Development.  Mr. Ossowski will manage Rivermont's advancement endeavors, including the annual fund, endowment, planned giving, auction, and alumni relations.  Rivermont has been educating students in the Quad Cities since 1884.  At Rivermont, tuition alone does not cover the cost of the education provided, nor does it take into account the school's long term needs or address capital improvements.  We are excited to welcome Mr. Ossowksi aboard to help raise the funds that make Rivermont's mission possible!

Ossowski, a resident of East Moline, is a graduate of Alleman High School and Northern Illinois University with over twenty five years of development experience.  He returned to the Quad Cities seven years ago after time spent in Arizona, where he served as Director of Development for the West Valley Symphony and the Challenger Space & Science Education Center in Phoenix, as well as a Major Gifts Officer at the University of Arizona and Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations at Prescott College.  Ossowski spent the past six years as Director of Development at Family Resources, where he started the first annual fund campaign and helped lead a $1.1 million campaign to complete the historic Wittenmyer gymnasium restoration and renovation project.

Rivermont Collegiate, located in Bettendorf, is the Quad Cities' only private, independent college prep school for preschool through 12th grade, with students from throughout the Quad City area.  Each year, students come to grow, to learn, and to experience an education designed to make a difference in their lives.  Founded in 1884, the school was originally organized as St. Katharine's School, an Episcopal school for girls located at 10th and Tremont Streets in Davenport.  In 1968, St. Katharine's dropped its boarding program, became co-educational, and added St. Mark's to its name.  In 1973, St. Katharine's - St. Mark's moved to its present location in Bettendorf and the name was changed to Rivermont Collegiate in 2001, following an amicable break with the Episcopal Church.

Colleges call for a vote on Choice Reports bill

CHICAGO - December 12, 2012. Calling for a vote on a key college affordability and transparency bill, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon marked her 12th and final College Affordability Summit today with a visit to Northeastern Illinois University.

Simon said that transparency is one of three basic tenets that will help students afford and complete college. She is backing legislation requiring all degree-granting institutions to publish an annual College Choice Report. The report would help students compare information, such as total costs and completion rates, across all degree-granting institutions in the state and make more informed decisions about where to spend their college dollars.

All 12 public university presidents and the Illinois Community College Board presidents' council submitted letters recently to the House calling for Senate Bill 5248 to be released for a vote before this session ends.

"College Choice Reports will be easy to access and easy to use, helping students find the facts they need to make an informed decision about an institution that will best fit their needs," said Simon. "I appreciate the great support we have received for Senate Bill 5248, and I look forward to working with Speaker Madigan to bring this bill to the House floor for a vote."

While increased transparency will help students discover more information about the state's higher education institutions, Simon has outlined two additional ways stakeholders can work together to make college affordable:

·         Targeted assistance: To better use state resources, Simon wants to strengthen the Monetary Award Program and insure MAP grants promote college attendance and completion, and reduce the achievement gap between low-income and higher-income students. MAP grants are currently awarded on a first-come, first-served basis to students based on financial need, but that means state funding reaches only about half of eligible students. Simon currently serves on a MAP Eligibility Task Force that is evaluating ways to improve distributional equity and encourage timely degree completion. A task force report to the General Assembly is due Jan. 1, 2013.

·         Tax credits for tuition payments: More than 9 million students and families are taking advantage of the American Opportunity Tax Credit, saving them up to $10,000 over four years of college. Simon supports making this federal tax credit permanent and preventing it from expiring at the end of this year.

"Cutting investments directly related to economic growth doesn't make sense. We should work together on policies that prioritize education and employment, not shortchange Illinois students and quality employers," Simon said."Together we could stabilize the cost for public universities and community colleges, following tuition and fee increases that have outpaced inflation, family incomes and available aid over the past 20 years."

According to a College Board trends report published in October, costs at public and private universities nationwide increased more than 4 percent this school year, while the cost of community college increased more than 5 percent since last school year. Compounding the burden on students, federal aid declined for the first time in three years.

"In order to retain and attract high-wage and high-skill jobs in Illinois, we will need 60 percent of our working-age population to hold a college credential by 2025," Simon said. "We cannot expect students to complete college if they cannot afford college. I urge our state, federal and higher education leaders to work together to ensure college is not only accessible to the privileged, when it will be a prerequisite for a good job in our state."

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Final Affordability Summit to be held at Northeastern Illinois

CHICAGO - Lt. Governor Sheila Simon will convene her final College Affordability Summit on Wednesday at Northeastern Illinois University. Throughout the fall, Simon has met with students, faculty, staff and administrators at each public university campus in Illinois to urge state, federal and higher education leaders to keep college affordable for all students.

Simon says that transparency is key to helping students afford and complete college. She is backing legislation requiring all degree-granting institutions to publish an annual College Choice Report. The report would help students compare information, such as total costs and completion rates, across all degree-granting institutions in the state and make wise choices about where to spend their college dollars. Each of the 12 public university presidents recently signed a letter of support to House Speaker Mike Madigan, requesting the bill's release from the House Rules Committee. 

An October report from the College Board indicates that public and private universities nationwide have increased costs more than 4 percent this school year, with community college costs up 5 percent. To make ends meet, students have taken on more debt, carrying an average of $26,682 in student loans in 2010 according to the Pew Research Center. 

"As a state, we want to increase the proportion of working-age adults with a college degree or credential to 60 percent, up from 41 percent, by 2025. The only way we can achieve this goal is if college is affordable," said Simon, a former Southern Illinois University law professor and a member of a state task force evaluating MAP Grant eligibility. "We must work together to rein in the costs of higher education."

DATE: Wednesday, December 12

TIME: 10:15 a.m.

PLACE: Golden Eagle room, Northeastern Illinois University Student Union, 5500 St. Louis Ave., Chicago

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