  We have developed a compact partially ferromagnetic electromagnet to produce
a Ioffe-Pritchard trap for neutral atoms. Our structure permits strong magnetic
confinement with low power consumption. Compared to the previous iron-core
electromagnet, it allows for easy compensation of remnant fields and very high
stability, along with cost-effective realization and compactness. We describe
and characterize our apparatus and demonstrate trapping and cooling of Rb 87
atoms to quantum degeneracy. Pure Bose-Einstein condensates containing 10^6
atoms are routinely realized on a half-minute cycle. In addition we test the
stability of the magnetic trap by producing atom lasers.
