Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of the Ivy Tech Community College logo on the outside of Ivy Tech Columbus’s new campus building Moravec Hall in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. The building is named after local philanthropist and business owner Tony Moravec.
Ivy Tech – Columbus Board of Trustees heard about the college’s current enrollment and retention numbers on Tuesday, which showed steady increases.
The college seems poised to be at or near retention goals, although headcount over the summer term was down a chunk as a result of the Indiana General Assembly’s decision to cut funding to the state college system earlier this year.
The first metric Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jennifer Englert-Copeland touched on was the college’s total headcount, a summary of the past five years which includes degree-seeking students, guest students, transfers, re-admits, skills training students and those taking dual credit.
Total headcount in 2024-25 was 11,242, up from 10,173 last year. Headcount has been on an incline going back to the oldest data that was presented from 2020-21 when the figure was 6,770.
Total revenue generating headcount, which encompasses enrollment of students where the college collects funds through tuition and fees, showed increases between this and the past spring, up 381 students. Total revenue generating headcount from between last fall and this fall is already up 170 students, with more likely to come as the term draws nearer.
But the total revenue generating headcount for the summer is down 257 students from last year, notably.
“That we had planned for, because we did not have the free summer funding that we’ve had the previous years,” Englert-Copeland said.
Ivy Tech had offered free summer classes for Indiana high-school students for the past three years, but did not this time around.
State budget cuts took $27 million a year from the Ivy Tech system, leading the college to discontinue the free summer classes, citing “a challenging fiscal environment that is impacting all public higher education institutions in Indiana.”
Ivy Tech estimates it lost $12 million in tuition revenue through the program in the three years it was offered. The average student saved approximately $1,000 in tuition and fees. More than 6,400 students participated in the free program statewide last summer, and Ivy Tech expected demand to grow by more than 2,000 students this year across all campuses.
Summer enrollment in 2024 on the Columbus campus was up 28.6% compared to the head count at the end of the summer 2023 term, officials said around this same time last year.
“But the good news for the fall is that we’re trending ahead,” Englert-Copeland told board members. “There’s lots of enrollment.”
Retention from the past spring to this summer was 49.1%, eclipsing the college’s goal of 49%.
Summer to fall retention is currently ongoing, Englert-Copeland said. Retention is at 52.2% currently, the data showed. While the goal is 76%, Englert-Copeland said they’re tracking for where they were the previous year and indicated the metric will land at or near their designated mark.
Fall to fall retention is the college’s “big metric,” Englert-Copeland said.
The statewide Ivy Tech goal for fall to fall retention is 51%, “but because Columbus tends to do well, we’ve been asked to have a stretch goal of 53%, which is a huge goal,” Englert-Copeland said.
The current retention rate for that period is 35.3%, which again, is a figure still subject to change as student enrollment continues. The college is running about 3% ahead of their retention figure for the same period last year, Ivy Tech officials said.
