Published: May 13, 2008 10:50 pm            

IU, Ivy Tech announce agreement on degrees

Agreement means Indiana will eliminate programs that overlap

TERRE HAUTE — Indiana University and Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana announced last week that they have entered into a statewide agreement on programs and degree options that will eliminate duplication and better meet the higher education needs of Hoosiers.

The agreement designates Ivy Tech as the primary provider of two-year associate degrees in Indiana, while IU will focus on baccalaureate and graduate education, and will eliminate existing associate degree programs that overlap with Ivy Tech’s offerings. It will accelerate the transformation of Indiana University regional campuses and foster cooperation between every IU campus and its Ivy Tech counterpart.

Under the agreement, the institutions will work together to develop pathways for students to articulate Ivy Tech associate degrees, including its new liberal arts degrees, with corresponding baccalaureate degrees from IU.

IU and Ivy Tech also will collaborate to market and co-brand their degree programs targeted to returning adult students, with Ivy Tech offering an associate’s degree in general studies and IU a related bachelor’s degree in general studies.

Those programs are designed to serve the needs of the estimated 650,000 Indiana residents who have graduated from high school but do not have a college degree.

IU will permanently retain a limited number of associate degrees that rely on resources that are unique to IU. They include:

n Medically related associate’s degrees offered at certain campuses in areas such as radiography, histotechnology, optometric technology, health information technology, dental laboratory technology and dental hygiene.

n Arts-related associate’s degrees offered at IU Bloomington in string instrument technology, recording arts and audio technology.

n An associate’s degree in liberal arts for students who earn at least 60 hours toward a baccalaureate degree at IU but leave school for personal reasons.

In other areas, IU and Ivy Tech campuses will work together to eliminate IU associate degrees within the next five years.

The agreement builds upon and implements the May 2001 Campus Compact, an agreement by the Indiana Commission on Higher Education with IU and Purdue University. The compact provided a framework for associate degrees to be offered through Indiana’s community college system while universities focused on four-year and advanced degrees.

        

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