Announcement tomorrow.  link

Any guesses as to who it will be named for.  I'm guessing Robert Ray.

A couple of us already know so I won't guess. Governor Ray is a great guess...but not correct.

Darth Vader
Lord of the Sith
Founding Father - Drake Spirit Committee (1990)

Dolph?

The college is named after a "well-known Drake alumnus," according to a Monday announcement from the Des Moines university. The new two-year college will enroll students mostly hailing from central Iowa, the announcement said. 

Drake President Marty Martin will unveil more details at 11 a.m. Tuesday outside Sheslow Auditorium. The family of the alumnus that the college will be named after will also be present.

Based on this statement, I'm assuming the alum is somebody who is no longer with us.  So, probably not Dolph.  

Many schools (e.g. Jacksonville University, Dixie State University) evolved from two-year to four-year institutions.  Maybe Drake is exploring going the other way.

"This is Devo
We would like to say
Things go both ways
New ideas...stupid moves
Nightmares or dreams come true"

Or maybe four years of college tuition is just too dammed expensive.  Offer them something...

Bright?

Good job McB. It is Johnny Bright

https://amp.desmoinesregister.com/amp/3445309001?

Link of school press release

LINK

Darth Vader
Lord of the Sith
Founding Father - Drake Spirit Committee (1990)

Sounds like a route to easier admission.  I assume men's basketball will benefit.  

Forty years ago (!) I was a Freshman at Drake.  The school enrolled approximately 5,000 undergraduate students.  

If enrollment were still at that level (and no BLM), would Drake be starting this associate's program?

According to the Register article, it's $18,500 a year. Pretty expensive for a junior/community college.
This brings up a lot of questions. Will the students be housed in the dorms? Will they have meal tickets? Is it part of the 4 year institution.....same instructors; same programs, such as athletics (Lurking brought up the possibility of football players playing for the University) and Band, etc. Is it strictly a commuter school?
The average annual tuition for 2 year community/junior colleges in the Chicago area is $4-5,000.  Are there junior colleges in Des Moines that kids can transfer to Drake from that cost only $4-5,000 a year?
Will there be a backlash from full time 4 year students? The areas of study seem to be the same in many disciplines, such as Business, etc. Why pay $35-40,000 a year?
Did Drake answer these questions in the announcement that were not covered in the Register article? Did Drake fully think this thing out? Sounds precarious to me.
If I remember correctly, when I was at school (maybe Marine can verify this), there was a two year program that awarded a degree for Secretarial Science, but the student paid full tuition and lived in the dorms,etc., and there was no difference in any area of the experience. What are the parameters of Drake Junior College, and the awarding of an Associates Degree?
I think there are a lot of gray areas that need clarification, especially as far as regular full time undergrads are concerned. 

I don't have the answers, 67....but I'm guessing they won't live in the dorms.  Gonna be mostly commuter.  Not even sure where the classes will be.  I'm 99% sure those students will not be able to play for Drake's sports teams.  I wonder if they will have their own athletic teams.

Community colleges in this area are about the same price as what you mentioned.  Not sure why students would pick Drake's programs over somebody like DMACC.  I think Drake will try to find ways to subsidize the expenses for a lot of the students.

 Did Drake fully think this thing out?

  

I can't imagine they're doing something like this without having done a whole lot of research first.  But, they supposedly researched the D+ thing, too.  

Edit:  It looks like the Register has updated the story, and it includes a little more info

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/education/2020/09/01/drake-university-two-year-associates-degrees-new-college-johnny-bright-craig-owens/3445309001/

It's up to Drake to determine the extent to which the "college" will be assimilated into the larger university.  At New Hampshire,  the associate programs appear to be seamlessly integrated.  Same at Virginia Tech, however they specifically prohibit students in two-year degree programs from participating in NCAA sports. ..which might stem from the D-I bylaws.  Would have to research that one.

How could Drake keep people in the Johnny Bright College from playing football?!?  

It’s been more of a religious school thing but St. Thomas and Loyola Chicago are among others who have done this.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/12/09/private-universities-branch-associate-degrees

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/08/23/growing-number-religious-universities-offer-two-year-degrees

Interesting read 

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2020/10/24/drake-universitys-plan-associate-degrees-draws-praise-questions/3741717001/

Here are 10 of the first 19 Associate's Degree recipients.

Butler University is getting on the bandwagon, with its own twist.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/03/us/butler-university-debt-free-college-reaj/index.html

Saw that and had meant to post. 

From another board, the following post is from a Georgetown fan, regarding Butler.  His comments may or may not also apply to Drake.

This is a reflection of Butler facing two headwinds: a weakening application base and higher accept rates (91% early applicants, 82% overall) to fill the class.
Here's what a junior college essentially does:
1. Provides a base of students to transfer in as juniors, reducing pressure on incoming freshman applications to fill the class and improves accept rate.
2. Improves student-faculty ratio for lower level classes; presumably, fewer freshmen are admitted as some will follow as juniors.
3. If the students do not make it through, it's on the junior college and not against Butler's numbers it must report to the federal government on graduation rates.
Does it devalue the Butler name? It could, but schools don't take this step unless they need to.