Ivy Tech building new campus in Anderson

Ivy Tech Community College will build a $20 million campus along Interstate 69 in Anderson, school and city officials
announced Tuesday.

The new Anderson branch of the statewide community college will be located on a 40-acre
strip
of farmland between 60th Street and I-69, west of Exit 26, according to The Herald Bulletin newspaper.

The city will purchase the land from the owner for $20,000 per acre ($800,000 in total) over
the next five years. The city in turn will donate the land to the school, the newspaper
said.

Construction of the 85,000-square-foot building could begin in the spring, but a start
date depends upon the availability of state money. Funding for construction already has been approved
by lawmakers, The Herald Bulletin reported.

Ivy Tech’s existing
campus on 53rd street in Anderson is bursting at the seams, as the community college
is experiencing statewide enrollment increases largely due to the recession. Enrollment at the Anderson
campus has grown 23 percent in the past five years, to 2,600 students, school officials say.

More than 110,000
students were enrolled at Ivy Tech statewide in August, marking a 28.6-percent increase compared with
the 2008 fall semester.

Ivy Tech has 23 campuses in Indiana.