• Outside of the donations for the DMACC Automotive Building, this donation is believed to be the largest single donation to the College's automotive programs.

  • Nine of the 14 donated vehicles will be used by students in the Honda PACT program on the Ankeny Campus. The other five will go to DMACC's Career Academies.

  • All of the donated vehicles are 2023 models.

DMACC ​Automotive programs recently received a donation valued at more than $800,000 from the Honda Motor Company. The donation includes 14 2023 Honda vehicles, worth more than $50,000 each, and a Honda PACT (Professional Automotive Career Training) Program school tool kit that includes a new hoist and all of the special tools for PACT valued at about $100,000.

DMACC Automotive Technology Programs Chair and Professor Jerry Burns said that outside of the donations for the DMACC Automotive Building, the donation from Honda Motor Company is believed to be the largest single donation to the College's automotive programs.

Burns said nine of the 14 vehicles will be used by students in the Honda PACT Program on the Ankeny Campus to learn about the latest technology equipped on Honda vehicles.

"The Honda PACT program is an educational partnership between American Honda and DMACC to provide Honda and Acura-specific training and certifications to our graduates," Burns said. "The Honda PACT program is an internship-based program so the students will alternate between time spent here at school learning new material and then time at a Honda or Acura dealership on paid internships."

Burns said the Honda PACT program at DMACC, which started in 2020, has two components. The first is a one-year certificate option called the Honda PACT Maintenance & Light Repair Certificate, and the second is a two-year Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree option called the Honda PACT AAS.

“The one-year certificate is stackable to the AAS degree so if someone starts down the one-year certificate route and decides to continue onto the two-year AAS it is a seamless transition for the student," Burns said. “Graduates will leave the program as certified Honda and Acura service technicians."

He said the other five donated vehicles will go to DMACC's Career Academies, including one each to the Carroll Career Academy, the Ames Hunziker Center Career Academy, the Ankeny Career Academy, the Southridge Career Academy and to Des Moines Central Campus.

“The Honda PACT (Professional Automotive Career Education) program is something new and meant to allow high school students to have access to Honda-specific training and industry certifications," Burns said. “This will help streamline the process for high school students interested in Honda to get a jump start into the Honda PACT program and graduate as a Honda Certified Technician. High school students at all of our Career Academies will have this as an option if they choose."

Here is a list of the 14 donated Honda vehicles: 

  • 2023 Honda Odyssey Black Edition

  • 2023 Honda Pilot Black Edition

  • 2023 Honda Odyssey

  • 2023 Honda Odyssey

  • 2023 Honda Odyssey

  • 2023 Honda Odyssey

  • 2023 Honda Odyssey

  • 2023 Honda Pilot

  • 2023 Honda Odyssey Touring

  • 2023 Honda Odyssey Black Edition

  • 2023 Honda Accord

  • 2023 Honda Odyssey Black Edition

  • 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring

  • 2023 Honda Odyssey 

“Since the program started in 2020, we have graduated and placed all of the graduates at Honda and Acura Dealers across the state of Iowa," Burns said.

He said 19 students are currently enrolled in the program and 11 have applied for the next fall semester.

“We have had great support from Honda and the Honda dealers all across Iowa," Burns said.

Prospective students interested in enrolling in the Honda PACT program should apply at dmacc.edu​. Fall classes start on Aug. 21.

Contact: Jerry Burns, DMACC Automotive Technology Programs Chair and Professor, (515) 964-6504, jlburns@dmacc.edu