Indiana Wesleyan to Open Two More Regional Campuses
By Alan Miller

Indiana Wesleyan University has acquired property to open regional campuses in Merrillville, Ind., and Lexington, Ky. IWU, which has its main campus in Marion, currently has 10 regional campuses in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

IWU has bought almost four acres of land at the intersection of I-65 and U.S. 30 in Merrillville and will build a two-story, 27,000-square-foot building. The Merrillville Education Center will open in early summer 2006.

IWU began offering classes in northwest Indiana 15 years ago and currently has about 200 students attending classes there in leased facilities. The five-year goal for the Merrillville regional campus is 1,000 students.

In Lexington, IWU will lease about 10,000 square feet of space in an existing building. The campus, located southeast of Lexington on I-64, will open in October after the building is remodeled.

IWU opened its first out-of-state campus in Louisville, Ky., in 2001. Louisville classes have been held in leased facilities since then, but a new building is under construction and will open in November.

IWU has six other regional campuses in Indiana: two in Indianapolis and one each in Fort Wayne, Columbus, Kokomo and Shelbyville. The University also has campuses in three Ohio cities: Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton.

All of the regional campuses offer classes for adult learners. About 9,000 students currently are enrolled in those classes.

A record 2,900 students are expected to enroll for fall semester classes, which begin Sept. 6 on IWU's traditional campus in Marion. It will be the 18th consecutive year of record enrollments on the Marion campus.

Alan Miller is the University Relations Director at Indiana Wesleyan University.