Illinois State University and Heartland Community College renewed their partnership Tuesday to help engineering and special education students transfer credits between the two schools.
Ani Yazedjian, ISU provost, and Sarah Diel-Hunt, Heartland provost, signed new articulation agreements for students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in general and mechanical engineering and for the PULSE [Paraprofessionals Unlocking License in Special Education] program for special education teaching. It raised the number to 17 total articulation agreements for credit transfers between the two institutions. The agreements were signed Tuesday at the Community Commons Building at Heartland.
“Transfer students come to us with a strong foundation they built at their community college,” said Yazedjian. “When they get to Illinois State, they stay and graduate from Illinois State, and more importantly, have the opportunity to meet local workforce needs.”
“This is a win-win for students who want to begin their education with a quality and affordable option in a smaller setting, like here at Heartland, before continuing on to one of the premier and leading public universities in the state of Illinois,” said Keith Cornille, president of Heartland Community College.
Blake Lang of Normal is a Heartland student who will attend the ISU College of Engineering after achieving his associate’s degree at Heartland this spring.
“Heartland has got a lot of great teachers,” said Lang. “The engineering program itself tends to be very small classrooms, so it's a very tight-knit group, and I'm able to learn a lot.”
Lang said one of the main reasons he chose engineering as a career path was the possibility that a move from Heartland to ISU could be made.
“This opportunity presented itself, and I said, ‘Yeah, this sounds like a great plan,'" said Lang.
The agreements for general and mechanical engineering will bring the first students from a fully articulated pathway from Heartland to ISU in fall 2027.
For both engineering and special education, the Bloomington-Normal area will have high demand for those who graduate after taking part in the Heartland and ISU programs.
“We're committed to providing accessible and affordable education that prepares students for long-term success,” said Yazedjian. “The agreements we signed today do not only reinforce that commitment, but also strengthen our relationship with Heartland to train our future workforce while meeting the needs of local employers.”
More than 100 PULSE candidates are already admitted into the 2026 cohort at ISU, with 1-in-10 having earned course credit at Heartland.
