Purdue renews key collaboration with Ascend Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS — Purdue University’s collaboration with Ascend Indiana that connects students to promising career opportunities in Indianapolis and statewide will continue for the foreseeable future.

The two entities have renewed their collaboration — which links Purdue students to jobs and internships in Indiana that match their skill sets and interests through the Ascend Network, the initiative’s online job matching platform — for three years. Purdue students in West Lafayette and Indianapolis gain an early foothold in their career pursuits, unlocking a plethora of internship and employment opportunities within the state while receiving one-on-one guidance and job search support at no cost. Meanwhile, Indiana’s leading employers gain access to a pipeline of job-ready Boilermaker talent right in their backyard.

“The name of the game here in Indiana is ‘brain gain,’ and collaborations like this with Ascend Indiana are critical in keeping skilled Purdue talent within the state’s borders,” said Dan Hasler, chief operating officer for Purdue in Indianapolis. “Our students and graduates are far more likely to make a meaningful bond with a person and a place rather than just a job, so these connections created through Ascend’s extensive in-state network will ensure those relationships are started and maintained.”

One of the main motivations for Purdue’s expansion to the capital city with the launch of Purdue University in Indianapolis in July was to spark that brain gain in Indiana, generating jobs, economic growth and innovation together with industry partners. This agreement with Ascend, a deal that was executed by Purdue’s Office of Engagement and Office of the Provost, is a crucial first step in that goal. The collaboration provides Purdue students direct and meaningful connections to Ascend’s employer partners in Indiana, while devoting resources to enhance student recruitment and applications for available roles in the state. Ascend has supported 2,181 Purdue students in publishing a profile so far, with 359 of those users already earning a job or internship through the network.

Since its inception in 2017, Ascend has connected more than 4,700 people in Indiana with jobs, internships and training opportunities in all sectors across the state. More than 790 employers are currently using the network, fulfilling their critical workforce needs, and more than 50% of candidates on the network are from underrepresented backgrounds.

“Purdue students using the Ascend Network are experiencing a platform that is tailored to finding jobs and internships specifically in Indiana in a wide variety of industries that employ more than 3 million people in meaningful and well-paying careers,” said Brad Rhorer, president and CEO of Ascend Indiana. “Indiana’s economy is growing at unprecedented rates, and connecting Boilermaker students to available opportunities here in Indiana is essential to helping employers find the talent they need.”

The network adds a robust resource to the university’s efforts to assist students in their career paths and provides a lens into the variety of Indiana-based companies and opportunities, unlocking boundless potential for business and talent in the state.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.

About Ascend Indiana

A branded initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), Ascend Indiana is committed to making Indiana a place of economic opportunity for all. Ascend connects job seekers to good and promising career opportunities through an innovative job matching platform, the Ascend Network; catalyzes partnerships and provides consulting services to meet high-demand workforce needs through Ascend Services; and conducts research through Ascend Insights to enable systems-level change that positively impacts individuals throughout the state. To learn more, visit ascendindiana.com.