Ivy Tech planning $96M South Bend campus expansion

Ivy Tech Community College is drafting a $96 million plan for a series of expansions at its crowded and growing South Bend campus.

The proposal includes a large addition at the campus, a student life center and other improvements that would nearly double Ivy Tech's current 258,000 square feet.

But the South Bend Tribune reports the plan outlining upgrades that would unfold over the next 10 years requires state officials' approval, funding from the General Assembly and a significant community fundraising drive.

Ivy Tech North Central Chancellor Thomas Coley says the South Bend campus is "crunched for space."

The number of students enrolled at the campus was 3,151 in fall 2000, but had risen to 5,090 by this fall, leaving the college crowded in its existing buildings.