State Update
Indiana University continues to leverage its educational and creative resources and expertise to meet the most critical challenges facing Hoosier communities. The latest State Update spotlights how IU is working with state and local leaders to prepare a new generation of Hoosier teachers, lawyers and nurses and improve the teaching and learning environments across all its campuses.
IU integrates new state literacy requirements
In a swift and comprehensive response to Indiana’s literacy goals, Indiana University has demonstrated its commitment to excellence in teacher preparation by aligning the literacy components of its key education programs with the state’s new Science of Reading requirements.
IU is the state’s leading provider of education licenses — approximately 33% of all licenses come from IU — so prompt uptake of state education standards is imperative.
Learn more about IU’s swift adaptation of the state’s goals
10-year project plan among capital priorities elevated for state consideration
Indiana University’s 10-year capital project plan for all campuses was approved by the IU Board of Trustees. The plan will be presented to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the Indiana State Budget Agency, which will determine whether to include the priorities in the upcoming Indiana General Assembly Biennial Budget Session.
Read more about IU’s capital priorities
Indiana population growth projected to slow due to rising mortality, declining births
Indiana’s population will grow by nearly 383,000 residents from 2020 to 2060 — a 5.6% increase over this 40-year stretch — according to projections released by the Indiana Business Research Center at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
Growth over this period will be heavily front-loaded, with 60% of these gains taking place by 2030. All told, the state’s population total will climb from 6.79 million residents in 2020 to 7.17 million in 2060.
Learn more about the projections
IU law students fill in legal staffing shortage gaps in rural Indiana counties
Every county in the Hoosier state has fewer lawyers per capita than the national average. Rural communities face an even steeper shortage of lawyers and public servants in the justice system. This leads to courtroom delays, challenges meeting constitutional mandates around representation and increased self-representation, which can be risky for litigants.
Since 2019, Indiana University’s Maurer and McKinney law schools have sent students to communities in need of legal support through the Rural Justice Initiative. Since its inception, 31 counties have received assistance.
Get to know the Rural Justice Initiative
IU School of Nursing addresses state’s nursing shortage with largest beginning class ever
The Indiana University School of Nursing is working to solve the state’s nursing shortage by expanding enrollment across both undergraduate and graduate levels, welcoming its largest cohort of beginning nursing students ever this year. Nearly 450 new undergraduate students are starting in the school’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program this fall semester — the largest beginning cohort in the school’s 110-year history.
Get to know Indiana’s future nurses
Synergy in Science brings together local teachers and IU scientists to develop STEM lessons
Synergy in Science: Bridging Classrooms and Laboratories is designed to provide Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) high school science teachers with professional development on effective STEM integration and partner the participating teachers with Indiana University scientists to co-design authentic STEM lessons and activities. All projects will align to the Indiana Academic Standards for Integrated STEM pertaining to data analysis and measurement and problem solving.
Learn more about Synergy in Science