Ivy Tech Community College’s Indianapolis campus on Monday, May 30. Photo by Whitney Downard, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

By Casey Smith
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — Ivy Tech Community College will lay off 202 employees statewide as it responds to significant cuts in state funding and frozen tuition rates, the school system’s president, Sue Ellspermann, announced Friday, May 30.

The layoffs — affecting both full-time and part-time workers — represent about 2.8% of Ivy Tech’s total workforce, including 180 full-time positions, or 5.3% of its full-time staff, according to data provided by the college. The reductions include 38 faculty members, 162 staff and two administrative faculty.

In a Friday, May 30 letter to school employees, Ellspermann said the layoffs are a result of a $54 million shortfall over two years, driven by a 5% cut in state appropriations to higher education institutions. An additional 5% in potential funding held in reserve by the State Budget Agency deepened the financial strain.

“Because the college’s primary revenue sources are state appropriations, tuition, and fees, these developments have had an immediate effect on our planning,” Ellspermann wrote in her letter. “We have reached the difficult decision to adjust our staffing levels, in addition to efforts to reduce our operational expenses.”

“Staffing reductions are always difficult decisions that we do not make lightly,” Ellspermann continued. “These changes do not reflect the value of their work, but rather the harsh financial reality we currently face.”

Layoffs began Friday, May 30 and will continue into the next week. Affected Ivy Tech workers will receive separation packages, according to Ellspermann’s letter.

The largest number of layoffs occurred at the college’s Systems Office in Indianapolis, which is slated to lose 44 employees. Among the other campus cuts are 21 staff in Indianapolis; 14 each in Bloomington and Columbus; 12 in Kokomo; 11 in Evansville; and another 11 in South Bend and Elkhart.

The General Assembly appropriated about $243 million and $245 million for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, respectively. The latest state budget passed earlier this year will drop that funding to about $236 million in both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 fiscal years.

In a separate letter sent to state lawmakers on Friday, Ellspermann said that student services and academic quality remain priorities, noting that all 19 campuses across Indiana will remain operational. She emphasized that the college has no tenured faculty and “will have the continued ability to adjust the size of our faculty nimbly as enrollment and industry needs fluctuate.”

Ellspermann added that Ivy Tech has previously implemented other cost-saving measures, including rolling technology fees into tuition and eliminating distance education charges, which together cost the college more than $9 million annually in lost revenue.

“This is a challenging moment for our college, but I know Ivy Tech is strong,” Ellspermann said. “I remain confident in our resilience and in our commitment to our students and to one another.”