INDIANAPOLIS — High school students were once able to spend their summers taking college classes at Ivy Tech Community College for free. That opportunity is now over.
Ivy Tech announced it is discontinuing its free summer school program this year. In a statement, it said it is due to "a challenging fiscal environment that is impacting all public higher education institutions in Indiana."
"It feels like we're going backwards," said Amanda Schutte, whose daughter received a degree through the Ivy Tech program. "For a college that is supposed to be statewide and super accessible, this feels so backwards."
Schutte said the summer school program provided a way for her daughter to go through college quickly with no debt.
"She graduated from high school on a Saturday, started at Ivy Tech on Monday, and ended up graduating by the following August from Ivy Tech with her associates," said Schutte, who said her daughter will graduate from IU-Indianapolis this summer.
Ivy Tech responded to WRTV's request for comment after our report aired on television:
Ivy Tech, like all state higher educational institutions, received a budget cut from the State as a result of the fiscal environment. The potential impact is $27 million annually. We’re in a strong financial position, but this reduction in state funding will require we make difficult decisions. Our leadership team is working closely with our finance office to understand the full implications of the state budget cuts for our students, programs, and operations.
The free summer initiative served more than 14,000 high schoolers in the three years that we offered it. We also served an additional 10,000 students through the Indiana Department of Education’s Crossing the Finish Line [in.gov] program. The College forwent over $12 million in tuition revenue to provide this opportunity to high schoolers. More than 6,400 students enrolled in the free summer program last year, and we expected demand for the program to increase by more than 2,000 students this year. The program saved the average student approximately $1,000 in tuition and fees each summer.
We continue to offer summer courses at the lowest tuition rate of any public higher education institution in Indiana, and we will continue to offer dual credit and dual enrollment opportunities during the school year, which allows high school students to earn college credit. If a high school student is just a couple of courses away from completing a degree or certificate, they still may be eligible for the Crossing the Finish Line program.
-Emily Sandberg, Ivy Tech Assistant Vice President of Communications
Schutte wants Ivy Tech to find a way to revive the program. She is a teacher at an Indianapolis Public Schools middle school and repeatedly recommended the program to her students.
"It's truly heartbreaking that this is not going to be a resource to kids that really need it," Schutte said. "The access to this is life-changing."
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