Indiana University East has achieved a record high in total credit hours taught, surpassing the previous mark set in 2003.

The campus has increased the number of credit hours taught by 8.6 percent compared to the same period last year. There are 2,447 students enrolled for the fall semester, representing an increase of 8 percent. Enrollment has grown in all of IU East’s academic schools.

“In the last 12 months, we have completely restructured the campus and changed our mission and vision,” said Interim Chancellor Nasser H. Paydar. “These changes have significantly increased the level of education and services we provide to our region.”

Paydar also cited the campus’s new partnership with Ivy Tech Community College.

“We are creating a new model for higher education in the state by working collaboratively with our colleagues at Ivy Tech,” Paydar said. “Our continued enrollment growth is especially significant considering that we did not admit associate degree-seeking students this fall for the first time. Our mission is now exclusively at the baccalaureate and graduate level.”

The number of new transfer students admitted to IU East was the highest ever, increasing by 39 percent over the fall 2007 number, with the number of transfers from Ivy Tech campuses increasing by 44 percent.

Graduate enrollment also reached an all-time high this fall at IU East. The campus has initiated the Indiana University School of Social Work master’s program, following the Master of Science in Education degree program which began in June 2006.

Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Larry Richards said that the campus has also seen a dramatic increase in the quality of students.

“We have a record number of students attending IU East directly from high school, and this year’s freshman class is the best prepared yet,” Richards said. “The number of students who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class has increased by nearly 40 percent this fall.”