The University of Indianapolis is launching a new hub for its online education called UIndy Online, the university announced July 3.
UIndy Online will offer online undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates. The new program will join with the university’s workforce training hub, the Sease Institute. Launched in 2019, the Sease Institute works with companies to create specialized higher education programs, such as its certificate in engineering management.
The move to online comes as UIndy and other private universities try to attract more adult students. As of fall 2021, about a third of all U.S. undergraduate college students were 25 or older, according to federal data. Combined with a shrinking population of 18-year-olds, colleges — especially private schools — will struggle if they can’t get older students to enroll. To combat that, colleges like UIndy are embracing flexible pathways to higher education.
This fall, UIndy is launching its new MBA program where students accumulate certificates that eventually stack into a master’s degree. The school sees these programs as a way for working adults to learn new skills quickly while completing a larger degree on their own timeline. UIndy Online and the Sease Institute will also incorporate these stackable certificates into their curricula by fall 2025.
UIndy is currently searching for the inaugural dean of UIndy Online and the Sease Institute. The program will accept students this winter.
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire at claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org or on social media @clairerafford.
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