By Joseph S. Pete, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer
Ivy Tech officials expected that about 1,100 students would be enrolled in its Franklin campus by 2016.
The state community college hit that enrollment target seven years earlier than expected, partly because the economy has sent more adults back to school and caused more recent high school graduates to sign up for more affordable classes, school officials said.
Ivy Tech's enrollment at its Franklin campus has more than doubled in the past year.
About 1,100 students have signed up for an average of two classes each at the Franklin campus just east of Interstate 65 and north of State Road 44 on McClain Drive in the Franklin Eastside Business Park, where the fall semester started Monday.
The boom in enrollment has been brought on by expanded course offerings, more adults looking to upgrade their job skills and more parents of college-age students looking to save money by encouraging their children to attend Ivy Tech for two years before transferring to a four-year university, site director Scott Neal said.
"I've never seen anything like this in higher education," he said. "Our enrollment has grown steadily since we've been in Franklin, but now it's really taking off."
Several other colleges in Johnson County have reported increases in enrollment, including Indiana Wesleyan University, Indiana Tech and MedTech College.
IUPUI is planning a new Greenwood satellite campus, while Med-Tech College is leasing more space because of a boom in enrollment.
Statewide, Ivy Tech's enrollment hit a record of 106,644, an increase of 24 percent or about 20,000 students from 2008. The economy has contributed to the surge in new students, forcing more workers to learn new skills and making more families look at lower-cost options for college, said Randy Proffitt, a spokesman with Ivy Tech's Columbus region.
A total of 2,202 Johnson County residents attend Ivy Tech classes, mostly at sites in Franklin, Columbus and Indianapolis.
The ages of students can vary widely because adults enroll to train for new careers or make themselves more marketable in a tough job market, while some recent high school grads want to start their educations at Ivy Tech, Proffitt said.
Greenwood resident Allison Shaw didn't want to rack up $60,000 in debt like her sister did at Indiana University, so she enrolled in Ivy Tech for an associate degree in nursing. Taking two years of classes at Ivy Tech while staying at home is far more affordable, Shaw said.
Franklin resident Hannah Moore, also a nursing student, estimates she might save as much as $15,000 by getting a degree at Ivy Tech before moving on to a four-year university instead of attending a state college for four years.
"It'll be nice not to have that student loan debt, to be able to keep your first paycheck," Moore said. "I looked at other options, and you can save so much just on the tuition. It's really, really affordable."
More students have come to appreciate the educational value that Ivy Tech offers and taking classes there with the intent of transferring after two years to schools such as Ball State University, Indiana University and Purdue University, Neal said.
Nursing and business are popular subjects, but the most popular classes are liberal arts courses such as English composition or public speaking, which count as transferable credit toward a general education degree, Neal said.
Students can pay $300 for an English class that would count toward a bachelor's degree in any field, instead of paying $600 or more for a similar class at a state school, Neal said.
The Franklin campus is offering seven English classes this fall and all have the maximum of 30 students enrolled.
Ivy Tech recently added four classrooms and five faculty offices and expanded the student lounge in the warehouse it occupies on Franklin's east side. The campus added three new full-time professors, who teach anatomy, English and mathematics.
Soon, students should be able to get degrees without ever having to travel to Columbus or Indianapolis to complete required courses.
School administrators are reviewing a request to make the Franklin campus into a degree-granting site by the spring, Neal said. The Franklin campus would offer degrees in business, liberal arts and human services if the proposal is approved by administrators and the state board of higher education.
Currently, the Franklin campus offers about 145 classes in subjects such as microcomputers, paralegal studies, American history and personal finances. About 11 of those classes are conducted at Franklin Community High School because it has the science laboratories needed for technical classes.
Officials are continually tinkering with which courses the campus offers based on what students are enrolling in. New classes Ivy Tech recently launched in Franklin include agriculture, information security, visual communications, paramedic science and design technology. Students also have been able to sign up for a certified nurse's assistant class for the first time this fall.
"We listen to what employers need and teach our students what they need to know for the jobs of today," Neal said. "We offer what's in demand."