INDIANAPOLIS — Mounting budget woes and the need to deal with a $68 million deficit could force Ivy Tech Community College to close up to a quarter of its school sites around Indiana, school officials said.
The possible closures and a plan to boost tuition costs by $5 a semester will be considered next week by the school’s trustees.
“There are only painful solutions because it’s the only way to move the needle,” Ivy Tech president Tom Snyder told The Indianapolis Star.
Ivy Tech has already consolidated its administration offices, and school officials will conduct a cost-benefit analysis this summer of about 50 of its 72 locations around Indiana. Those sites operate through lease agreements without state support and about 20 could face the ax, said Jeff Terp, Ivy Tech’s senior vice president of engagement and institutional efficiency.
State officials hope Ivy Tech can retool its operations without significantly affecting students. Officials see Ivy Tech as playing a big role in Indiana’s goal to double the number of Hoosier adults with college degrees or certificates. Ivy Tech is also crucial to Gov. Mike Pence’s Gov. Mike Pence’s -Search using:News, Most Recent 60 DaysBiographies Plus Newseffort to boost workforce development by making sure Hoosiers have the education to fill available jobs.
“I would hope they would hold off on anything until we can review it together,” said state Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, who leads the Senate finance committee.
Kenley said he wants to examine Ivy Tech’s capital needs, its building sites, whether it has enough resources for its mission and “whether they can make changes.”
