Butler University bulldog sculpture.
Butler University is partnering with a national not-for-profit to create a two-year college on its Indianapolis campus—an initiative it says will offer an affordable pathway for historically underserved students who want to pursue higher education after high school, the university announced Friday.
Students can begin enrolling in the program in the fall 2025 semester. The college will initially offer associate degrees in business or allied health but will likely expand to include other fields of study. Butler is launching a national search for an inaugural dean for the new college.
The program, which is designed for students of color, first-generation college students and those from low-income households, will also create a pathway for students who want to pursue bachelor’s degrees.
Students enrolled in the program can earn their associate degree with no debt or out-of-pocket expenses, and most will have the opportunity to continue at Butler and earn a bachelor’s degree for less than $10,000, Butler University President Jim Danko said.
“This gives them a credential and a pathway to a degree, and addresses our state workforce strategy—the idea of increasing and retaining college graduates and training workers,” Danko told IBJ.
The university is also in the process of securing a donor for the new college, which does not yet have a name.
Butler is the third university to join the New York City-based Come To Believe Network, a not-for-profit that helps higher education institutions launch two-year college programs. The not-for-profit provided Butler with $500,000 in seed funding, made possibly by a gift from Chicago-area-based Schreiber Philanthropy.
Steve Katsouros, founder and president of the Come To Believe Network, said more than 80% of graduates from its programs transfer to four-year schools and 75% graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
“We believe that Butler will be very successful in replicating our model,” Katsouros told IBJ.
The not-for-profit has also launched programs at Arrupe College at Loyola University in Chicago and Dougherty Family College at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.
Carlos Martinez, a Chicago native who enrolled in the program at Arrupe College and now works for Come To Believe, said the two-year college looks to support youth who are often overlooked because of their backgrounds.
“I grew up with a single mother who did not complete college,” Martinez said. “Come To Believe is trying to reach these types of students, because they are so talented. They’ve really blown me away with their talents, their intelligence and their commitment to developing themselves.”
The launch of the program comes as other higher education institutions are working to increase the number of job-ready graduates in Indianapolis and make college more accessible to Hoosiers.
Last month, Indiana University said it would allow students at Indianapolis Public Schools who have a grade point average of at least 3.0 to receive automatic admission to IU Indianapolis.
About 53% of Hoosier high schoolers went to college in 2021, according to data from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, which is down from about 65% in 2015.
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