Official Notice of Public Hearing: Monday, June 5, 2023

OFFICIAL NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana
Public Notice of Hearing as required by I.C. 21‐14‐2‐8.

Ivy Tech Community College (Ivy Tech) will conduct a public hearing regarding its proposed tuition and mandatory fees for the 2023-2025 biennium at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, June 5, 2023, in Room 101/102 on the first floor of the Illinois Fall Creek Center building at Ivy Tech’s Indianapolis Campus. The building address is at 2535 N Capitol Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46208. This hearing will provide the public the opportunity to comment as required by Indiana Code 21-14-2-8.

The proposed tuition and fee structure outlined below will result in a decrease in tuition and fees for 66% of Ivy Tech students. Ivy Tech remains the lowest tuition in the state of Indiana with the lowest overall cost of attendance.

The proposed tuition and fee structure will be presented to the State Board of Trustees for adoption during the June meeting in Terre Haute, Indiana. The student tuition and mandatory fees structure, in combination with the State’s operating appropriations to Ivy Tech in 2023‐24 and in 2024‐25, are necessary to fund Ivy Tech’s operating budget and allow the Ivy Tech budget to be structurally balanced.

Those who would like to address the committee but who are unable to attend the hearing may instead send written comments to William Bogard, vice president for finance, via email to: wfbogard@ivytech.edu or, by mail to: Ivy Tech Community College, 50 W. Fall Creek Pkwy North Dr., Indianapolis, IN 46208. Comments should be received no later than Monday, June 5, 2023.

Ivy Tech uses a banded tuition structure, which means students enrolling in 12 or more credit hours pay the same tuition regardless of the number of credits in which they enroll. This structure encourages students to graduate faster, improve their academic performance, and reduce the overall cost of their education. In addition to the banded tuition structure, Ivy Tech also provides students with a Summer-Flex Scholarship to allow students who enroll in at least 12 credits hours in each of the Fall and Spring terms to complete up to six additional credit hours during the summer at no cost.     

The proposed full-time banded Ivy+ tuition increase for 2024 is 5.93% and for 2025 is 4.94%. This represents a 3.5% increase per-year based on the Indiana Commission for Higher Education’s (Commission) non-binding tuition recommendation in addition to 2.4% in year one to allow Ivy Tech to incorporate the distance education fee into tuition. Additionally, 1.4% in year two accounts for the change in higher education funding model recommended by the Commission and adopted in the state budget. Under this new model, the legislature has allocated “prospective funding” to the state colleges and universities. Those funds are not guaranteed to be earned in the biennium. If any or all of those funds are earned, Ivy Tech can take those funds into consideration when determining tuition and fees for the 2025-2027 biennium.

Ivy Tech is changing the structure of two fees to be incorporated into the tuition rate for 2023-24; those include the $75 per semester mandatory technology fee, and the $20 per credit hour distance education fee for select modalities including classes taught through IvyOnline.

Despite the increase in tuition and fees, Ivy Tech has found other innovative ways to save students on the overall cost of college including textbooks. According to a Public Interest Research Group report in 2019, 63% of students skipped buying a textbook because of costs. Additionally, a 2022 survey of nearly 12,000 students, the National Association of College Stores found that one in four students did not obtain at least one of their course materials. Through its Ivy+ Textbooks model, Ivy Tech has used its buying power to negotiate textbook prices on behalf of students at a reduced cost. Ivy+ Textbooks ensures that students have their course materials before the first day of class, increasing student success, and providing students with more predictability on total college costs. For the 2023-2024 academic year, students will pay $17 per credit hour and that cost will be reduced to $16.50 in the following year.

Questions from the media can be directed to Mary Jane Michalak, Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs at mmichalak@ivytech.edu or 317-679-2192.