IU is building Indiana's workforce of today and tomorrow

The opportunities to enhance Indiana’s workforce are clear: Encourage more high school graduates to attend college. Expand credential or degree options for adults. Fully prepare our state for the generational changes impacting the size of our workforce.

At Indiana University, we are addressing these opportunities head-on. 

Along with partners in our state legislature, IU joined others committed to student success in leading the charge to pass legislation that automatically enrolls eligible students into Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars program, guaranteeing them up to four years of undergraduate tuition at any participating public college or university in Indiana. IU is the No. 1 choice of 21st Century scholars statewide, and we anticipate nearly doubling the number of scholars at our campuses.

Each IU campus has created pathways to enhance access. IU South Bend unveiled a one-of-its-kind "Map the Gap" program, which provides monthly programming for students who are pursuing a “gap year” following their high school graduation. The program aims to ensure that these students pursue college at the conclusion of their gap year, while exposing them to potential career pathways. 

In Kokomo, the Ivy Crimson Guarantee partnership with Ivy Tech Community College guarantees direct admission to IU Kokomo to those students who first complete an associate degree through Ivy Tech. 

Preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow and a lifetime also calls us to reimagine our majors and programs. We are adding programs at our Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses that meet key talent needs, including new degrees focused on cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, innovation, nanotechnology, microelectronics, and more. We will also double Indianapolis enrollment in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. 

And IU Online has grown to now offer 232 degree and certificate programs—all developed and taught by IU faculty—with 30% of our over 8,400 IU Online students earning job promotions before they graduate. 

Our mission is clear: Prepare students for rewarding careers and lives, while driving a robust and reliable workforce pipeline that positions our state as a global economic powerhouse.

Pamela Whitten

President
Indiana University