For Parents

“NAASE has certainly enabled my daughter to start the next phase of her education early instead of wasting time treading water in her high school.” –Parent of 17 year old NAASE student, 2006

Letting your child leave home early to attend college can be a challenging experience. Once your students enter the University, they can always return home, but there’s no doubt that going to college changes your relationships, whether they go after their junior or senior year.

Parents are included in the initial interview day and invited to attend an orientation during the summer with students. The Belin-Blank Center will send correspondence about your student during the first year of school, and parents are encouraged to contact the Belin-Blank Center at any time with questions or concerns. To learn about what your student should do to prepare to apply for NAASE, please see the student section of our website.

How you can assist your student in preparing to apply for NAASE?

Preparation for college should begin well before a student’s senior year in high school. This College Prep Guide offers helpful tips about academic preparation and the college selection process.

Pre-college programs

Each year, Iowa offers a variety of camps, courses, and other programs for students in elementary through high school. Program areas range from music, sports, science, and math to entrepreneurship, forensics, and wildlife. For many students, youth camps are a fun and educational introduction to campus life.

The Belin-Blank Center runs a number of excellent summer residential programs as well. These programs are both academically and socially stimulating experiences which are great introductions to the staff at the B-BC and The University of Iowa’s campus. Check out our summer programs.

We asked NAASE parents their advice to future parents.  Here’s what they have to say:

• “We are quite relaxed having our son in the NAASE program. If he were a regular UI freshman, he would be without the excellent supervision and guidance that NAASE is providing him. He is not one to share with us all that’s going on. He’s always been rather quiet and has kept thoughts and information regarding himself to himself. We are grateful that one of the NAASE requirements is that information about the student is shared with his parents.”
• “Do it! What they ‘lose’ as a senior is far outweighed by what they gain in getting real challenges and opportunities.”
• “Listen to your son or daughter…They know best.”
• “The staff are supportive and act as advocates for the students. They (students) are better off than if they entered as regular freshmen.”
• “NAASE has given (our son) the opportunity to save an entire year that would have otherwise been largely wasted.”
• “Our son needed to be in a university setting-he was ready academically and emotionally to be out of high school. NAASE is a great program…do it!”
• “The program works! She has adapted to the different teaching styles of her teachers and the different learning that goes on compared to high school. She is very happy.”
• “Our daughter was home last weekend. As I drove her back to campus she said, ‘I’m so glad that I’m not in high school anymore.’ Enough said!”