By Jennifer Tangeman
Logansport’s new Ivy Tech campus has so many students that expansion plans are under way less than a month after the school’s opening.
Vice chancellor Kevin Bostic said because enrollment is so high, the school needs more parking to accommodate students.
“It’s a good problem to have,” he said. “We’re pleased.”
Bostic said the school’s amenities, such as the parking lots, were based on enrollment projections submitted by school officials during the design process.
According to a moderate-growth prediction, school officials thought the enrollment would be less than 1,000 students this semester, but the actual number is closer to 1,400.
“Right now, we are where we projected we would be for 2016,” the dean said. “We are quite a bit ahead and anticipate we will continue to grow.
“We knew they were basing the amenities off of those projections and knew we may have to add an additional parking lot, but didn’t anticipate it would be coming this quick.”
Officials at the school are planning another parking lot to the north of the building that would include an additional 189 spaces. Bostic said the lot will extend toward Main Street. Funding for the work will be tied into the original project budget, he said.
Land surrounding the new campus is an option for other types of development as well.
Bostic said acreage near the school is for sale and that he had spoken with Logansport-Cass County Chamber of Commerce and Logansport Economic Development Foundation officials who believe the land will be sold for development.
“As weather gets warmer and the Hoosier Heartland develops more in this area, I certainly think the areas around us will start to pop up with development,” Bostic said.
Ivy Tech owns about 50 acres surrounding the school as space for additions.
Bostic predicts the school will continue to prosper.
“If you look at statistics across the state for new Ivy Tech buildings, they have sustained enrollment, and I think we will sustain as well,” he said. “We should continue right on with the increases. Instead of the 45 percent increases we are seeing now, they will probably be a more realistic 10 to 15 percent increase every semester.”
• Jennifer Tangeman is a reporter for the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5148 or jennifer.tangeman@pharostribune.com.
