Purdue plans degree expansion

SOUTH BEND -- Purdue University plans to expand its degree programs at two northern Indiana sites to include as many as 500 students annually over the next five years.\nAdministrators also plan to add undergraduate degree programs in the next two to three years, with eventual plans of adding master's degree program, said David W. Frantz, interim director of the Purdue University School of Technology at South Bend/Elkhart.\n"There's a lot of potential for Purdue programs here to expand," Frantz told the South Bend Tribune for a story Monday.\nThose two Purdue sites currently offer bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering technology, computer engineering technology, and organizational leadership and supervision.\nThe new program might expand to offer bachelor's degrees in computer graphics, mechanical engineering technology and computer technology. Frantz, however, said he would work with other educational institutions in the area to avoid overlapping\nThe effort also involves a marketing program to spread the word about Purdue's programs in the area. Although many northern Indiana residents don't know it, Purdue has offered programs in the South Bend area since 1984 and on the IU-South Bend campus since 1994.\nAlso, there will be an effort to work with area businesses, inform high school students that Purdue classes are available outside of West Lafayette and offer college-level courses to high school students at Purdue's regional campuses, Frantz said.