IUPUI, Ivy Tech pave path to transfer success

From retention to employment, students transferring from Ivy Tech Community College to IUPUI are succeeding at higher rates than ever before, according to a recently released report. The coordinated partnership between IUPUI and Ivy Tech Indianapolis via the Passport Program bolsters that success.

“The number of transfer students that move back and forth between Ivy Tech’s Indianapolis campus and IUPUI is greater than in any other part of the state,” Kathy Johnson, IUPUI executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer, said. “The Passport Program is jointly supported by Ivy Tech and IUPUI, and it signifies our shared commitment to ensuring the success of our transfer students."

That commitment is evident in Ivy Tech transfer students’ persistence at IUPUI. At all undergraduate levels, Ivy Tech transfer students (78%) were retained at higher rates than non-Ivy Tech transfer students (71%) during the 2021–2022 academic year.

"A lot of these students are adult students or international students who rely on school being affordable and efficient,” Catie Triplet, academic advisor partnership coordinator for the Passport Program, said. “They are balancing their personal and professional responsibilities and goals.”

Seamless transition

In fall 2022, 57% of new Ivy Tech transfer students came to IUPUI already having earned an associate degree, a 5% increase from the previous fall. They also brought more credits; Ivy Tech transfers averaged 45.6 transfer credits, while students transferring from other schools averaged 30.5 credits.

“In this job market, credentials and degrees are important,” Katherine Adams, vice chancellor of enrollment services and student success at Ivy Tech, said. “We stress to students that it is important to complete their degree or credential prior to transferring. Life happens, and priorities get realigned to different timelines; degrees earned are accomplishments that cannot be taken away.”

The IUPUI Center for Transfer and Adult Students offers Passport Program participants student-centered, holistic support through their transfer experience.

“We ensure that students are completing all the courses that they can at the Ivy Tech lower cost of tuition,” Kathryn Bixby, academic advisor partnership coordinator for the Passport Program, said. “We help them step-by-step through the IUPUI application, and we provide programming to help them build community with other transfer students and learn about IUPUI so that they are hopefully in lockstep with traditional students when they arrive.”

In the 2021–2022 academic year, the proportion of Ivy Tech students of color in the Indianapolis service area (37%) was nearly double all other Ivy Tech service areas (20%).

"Ivy Tech Indianapolis is the most diverse campus among the 19 campuses of Ivy Tech,” Adams said. “The Passport Program provides a clear and local connection for students to remain here locally, but have a direct pathway to a bachelor’s degree. IUPUI welcomes the diversity of Ivy Tech’s students and provides support and a place to belong, so our students perform at a high level at IUPUI upon transfer."