Commission For Higher Education Partners With National Nonprofit

Ivy Tech Community College President Sue Ellspermann speaks at the event announcing Indiana’s new partnership with Credential Engine. (Jeanie Lindsay/IPB News)

College-bound students often have a sea of information to navigate while making their post-high school plans, but the state has now partnered with a national nonprofit to make that easier.

The state Commission for Higher Education is building a database of information on Indiana’s colleges and universities – including cost, degrees offered, and skills taught in graduate programs. The idea is to make it easier for people to research prospective colleges, and a national group called Credential Engine curates that information online.

Ivy Tech Community College President Sue Ellspermann says this partnership will enable Hoosier students to find the program that fits with their career goals.

“It’s imperative that they understand – and we understand – the skills and credentials that are required for higher education for the high demand high wage jobs now and into the future,” Ellspermann says.

Indiana’s Commissioner for Higher Education, Teresa Lubbers, says schools participating in the database will make it easier for students to navigate a complicated system.

“We’ve sort of used the analogy that it’s kind of like a GPS system where people used to use old maps and they would look at them,” Lubbers says. “And now you have a system that can actually help you in the most expedient way get to where you want to go.”

Lubbers says the commission has already started to add information on health courses and curriculum into the virtual library, but she says, more data will be added as schools get involved with the service.

The commission hopes colleges and universities will begin adding their own data soon, and Lubbers says some private institutions have already expressed their support.