Frequently Asked Questions

The Missouri Innovation Campus was designed through a collaborative effort of business partners, the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District, Metropolitan Community College and the University of Central Missouri. The goals of The MIC are to connect businesses to a trained workforce that has specific skill sets, make students competitive in the marketplace and reduce training costs. The Missouri Innovation Campus also uses an accelerated model designed to reduce student debt and increase student retention and degree completion. 

This training initiative is rigorous, relevant and can be used with all of the Missouri Strategic Initiative for Economic Growth target clusters, including advanced manufacturing, energy solutions, bio sciences, health sciences and services, and information technology.

The instructional program is delivered by instructors who use inquiry, team-building, real-world problem solving and hands-on activities to assess both the hard and soft skills required by business partners and their industries. The program is enriched by several internships—beginning in the summer after the student’s junior year of high school where business partners can observe and assess the students’ abilities in real-life activities within the company throughout two or three years.

Students begin the program in their junior year of high school by taking not only courses required to graduate from high school, but also college credit courses that position them to graduate from high school with an associate degree from Metropolitan Community College. The final two years are focused on completing a bachelor of science degree from the University of Central Missouri.

This accelerated model is a four-year, year-round program that reduces degree completion by two years for students finishing their coursework on time as identified by their four-year plan.

Business partners are a critical component of The MIC and make the experience unique for MIC students. If you are interested in becoming an MIC business partner, you can contribute in two ways:

• Assist in the development and review of curriculum in your company’s program of interest.
• Provide internships for MIC students in your program of choice.

• Big Data and Business Analytics
• Cybersecurity
• Data Science
• Engineering Design Technology
• Software Development/Computer Science
• Software Engineering
• Computer Information Systems

Two of the seven MIC programs offer an AAS degree from MCC. Those programs are Engineering Design Technology and Computer Science. All seven of the MIC programs offer a Bachelor’s degree from UCM. Other science, technology, engineering and mathematics career field programs will be added through the oversight of UCM, in collaboration with MCC, Lee’s Summit R-7 School District and The MIC business partners.

1. Maintain good attendance in high school (95 percent overall) and good grades (3.0 GPA), and complete prerequisite coursework. For specific course requirements, visit the Summit Technology Academy’s website at sta.lsr7.org.
2. Score into college-level courses on the ACT or the ACCUPLACER placement test.
3. Submit your online application to Summit Technology Academy by going to the STA website at sta.lsr7.org. Check that you are interested in the MIC Program.
4. Complete and submit an Eligibility form and Student MOU form that you will receive at the MIC enrollment meeting in March.
5. Once accepted into the program, apply for admission to Metropolitan Community College and University of Central Missouri.

One of the greatest obstacles to college completion is student debt. The MIC students will receive their first two years tuition-free, but they will be responsible for their textbooks and instructional materials. Additionally, The MIC works with students to seek new ways to assist students through student internships, grants, department and institutional scholarships, and low-interest loan programs to obtain their bachelor’s degrees with little to no student debt. Dual credit courses should be taken through MCC or UCM where possible. Those taken outside MCC or UCM will be reimbursed through receipt and grade transcript at the MCC dual credit tuition rate. It is the student’s responsibility to provide the program documentation to UCM for reimbursement. If a student drops or fails to obtain the required grade for a course, tuition for that course is the responsibility of that student and reimbursement to UCM will be required.