Ivy Tech sticking with Noblesville despite possible cutbacks

Ivy Tech Community College will open a Noblesville campus, despite a growing budget gap that has officials talking about closing a quarter of school sites statewide.

“Noblesville will not be affected,” said Jeff Terp, Ivy Tech's senior vice president of engagement and institutional efficiency.

Thank Indiana lawmakers, who included $12 million in the biennial state budget for Ivy Tech to pay for renovations at the current East Middle School. Officials in Hamilton County and the city of Noblesville also helped secure the project, agreeing to contribute as much as $19.5 million to buy the property and pay for some repairs. And Noblesville voters approved a $28 million referendum that will allow the school district to accommodate students in another building.

Terp said Ivy Tech will focus its campus-closure discussion on leased sites where the state has not made a capital investment—48 of the school’s 76 locations. About 20 sites are at risk.

Ivy Tech already has consolidated its administration as it works to close a $68 million deficit. The gap began growing in 2005 when Ivy Tech became a statewide community college system, moving from a vocational and technical school.

“Our historical gap just keeps getting bigger,” Terp said. “Something has to change.”