Butler will open two-year college in 2025 to give underserved students a path to college

Butler University plans to open a two-year college in the fall of 2025 to attract undocumented and historically underserved populations to pursue higher degrees.

The new college, which will only accept commuter students, aims to offer Indianapolis high school students who cannot afford Butler’s typical four-year undergraduate degree an opportunity to obtain an associate’s degree or other professional credentials.

The exact tuition amount has not been set yet but Butler University President James Danko said the goal is to make college as low-cost as possible. Students will either have to qualify for a federal Pell Grant or be undocumented to be admitted to the program.

Absent financial aid or scholarships, it currently costs about $61,000 a year to attend Butler, according to the private school's website.

“We have people that live just within a mile or two of campus that are priced out of Butler University and Butler was founded on the premise of providing access to education for all,” Danko said.

The new two-year college is being created in partnership with Come to Believe, a nonprofit that has started similar programs at Loyola University in Chicago and the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

Recent Ed News: Indiana public schools losing thousands of kids to charter, private, innovation schools

In the first year, the college will aim to admit around 100 students, said Lori Greene, vice president for enrollment management at Butler University. Applications will open around Aug. 2024. Greene told IndyStar that Butler will set admission requirements for the new program in the coming year and said those requirements will take into account the kind of student the program is meant to serve.

“This is the student who has had life challenges, who has the grit and who has resilience,” Greene said. “This is for a kid who maybe says college sounds like a nice idea, but they need those next steps to get them there.”

More Ed News: Here's how Indiana businesses can get money to expand workers' child care options

What kind of associate’s degrees the college will provide has also not been determined yet. The students in this program will take the core required classes that all Butler students take, alongside students in the four-year college.

Butler University's partnership with Come to Believe marks the first time the program has partnered with a non-religious school. Come to Believe will give Butler $500,000 in seed funding, made possible by a gift from the John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation.

Steve Katsouros, founder and CEO of the Come to Believe Network, said on Friday that 80% of students in the Come to Believe program continue on to complete a four-year bachelor's degree and that 90% complete college with no debt. The program was founded in 2014 at Loyola University, according to the non-profit's website.

While Butler’s program may complement other two-year programs in the state, Katsouros said the Come to Believe programs often help underserved students see a pathway to continuing on to a four-year degree.

“We all have the same goal, which is to get more students across the finish line with a great credential that they can take out to the workforce and have better next chapters in their lives,” Katsouros said.

Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy.

Caroline’s reporting is made possible by Report for America and Glick Philanthropies. As part of its work in Marion County, Glick Philanthropies partners with organizations focused on closing access and achievement gaps in education.

Report for America is a program of The GroundTruth Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening local newsrooms. Report for America provides funding for up to half of the reporter’s salary during their time with us, and IndyStar is fundraising the remainder.

To learn more about how you can support IndyStar’s partnership with Report for America and to make a donation, visit indystar.com/RFA.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: New two-year college at Butler University coming in 2025