Ivy Tech Bloomington to confer 1,750 credentials to graduates on Friday

​Ivy Tech Community College Bloomington will host its annual Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 12 at 6 p.m. at the Indiana University Auditorium, where it will confer approximately 1,750 associate degrees and certificates to graduates, a 17% increase over last year.
 
This is the final Commencement that Jennie Vaughan will preside over as Chancellor, as she retires her position after 25 years of service to the College. New Chancellor, Erik Coyne, will give closing remarks.
 
Larry Swafford, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Ivy Tech Bloomington, will give the Commencement address and will also be his final ceremony as he retires his position after 17 years of service to the College and 35 years in radiation therapy and higher education. Swafford will speak to his own educational journey in pursuing his life’s calling as an educator and radiation therapist.

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An Honorary Associate of College and Community Service degree will be awarded to Connie Ferguson, Chairwoman of the Campus Board of Trustees and Owner of CS Property Management, for her decades of service to the College.
 
The 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, Erik Bare, will also be recognized. Bare is a 2009 graduate of the Radiation Therapy program. He currently holds the position of Executive Director of Oncology Services at Community Health Network MD Anderson Cancer Center in Indianapolis, Ind. and serves on the Bloomington campus Radiation Therapy program advisory board.
 
Ivy Tech Bloomington is conferring 455 transfer degrees and certificates to graduates, which is 26% of all credentials awarded. Ivy Tech has transfer agreements with more than 100 in- and out-of-state schools, including guaranteed admissions programs to Indiana University.
 
The number of students graduating with honors is 432—up 63 graduates over last year—with 135 graduating summa cum laude for maintaining a 4.0 grade point average.
 
The campus is graduating 370 Early College graduates that have earned credentials with dual credit classes in high school. Early College graduates earn a certificate, Associate of General Studies, or an Indiana College Core technical certificate before high school graduation. By earning the Core in high school, students can earn their first year of college credits before they graduate. Early College high schools include Academy of Science & Entrepreneurship, Bedford-North Lawrence, Bloomfield, Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Eastern Greene, Edgewood, Hoosier Hills Career Center, Loogootee, Lost River Career Center, Mitchell, North Lawrence Career Center, Paoli, Shoals, Springs Valley, Martinsville, Owen Valley, and West Washington.
 
The campus is conferring 100, tuition-free credentials to graduates, paid for by the state’s Next Level Jobs Workforce Ready Grant. Next Level Jobs programs at Ivy Tech Bloomington prepare Hoosiers for in-demand jobs in Indiana.
 
Associate Accelerated Program (ASAP) students will earn 54 associate degrees and certificates among 21 graduates. ASAP allows students ages 21 and under to earn an associate degree in 11 months.
 
In 2020, Ivy Tech Bloomington launched IvyAccelerate for busy adults who want to graduate on time and will award 13 credentials to 8 graduates. Classes are held two nights per week with the flexibility to attend in-person or virtually.
 
Ivy Tech Bloomington is conferring 30 associate degrees and certificates to 44 Achieve Your Degree™ (AYD) graduates. AYD is an employer-paid tuition assistance program that offers the chance to earn college credentials with no upfront cost to students. Locally, Ivy Tech has agreements with 17 employers, and the College works with more than 200 companies statewide.
 
28 military veterans and 8 international students representing the countries of China, India, and Zimbabwe are graduating.
 
Approximately 82 Associate of Science in Nursing (RN) degrees and 51 Practical Nursing (LPN) certificates will be awarded.
 
Ivy Tech Bloomington offers more than 40 career and four-year transfer programs, with courses that start multiple times per year for quick entry and graduation. To get started, apply for free online at ivytech.edu, call 812-330-6013, or email askBloomington@ivytech.edu. For information on tuition-free training programs at Ivy Tech Bloomington, visit ivytech.edu/bloomington/NLJ.