Ivy Tech Community College, with its extensive network of local campuses, has surpassed Indiana University as the state’s largest higher education institution.Enrollment numbers released Wednesday by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education show that more than 120,000 students took classes at Ivy Tech’s 23 campuses during the 2007-08 school year.Indiana University recorded nearly 119,000 students across its eight campuses, while Purdue University ranked third at about 76,000.The vast majority of Indiana’s college enrollment growth was found at the community college level, said Stan Jones, Indiana’s commissioner for higher education. One out of every three people taking college classes during the 2007-08 school year attended Ivy Tech.“This is an important signal that we are on the right path with the community college in Indiana,” Jones said.The slow economy may be causing some people to consider higher education, especially Ivy Tech. Ivy Tech officials tout the traditional benefits found at community colleges — cheaper tuition, two-year programs and flexible schedules.“We are seeing more and more students seeing the value of the state’s community college system,” Ivy Tech President Thomas Snyder said in a statement Wednesday. “Many of those students are taking advantage of our credits that transfer to Indiana University and other four-year colleges and universities, while others are earning degrees that are resulting in good-paying careers.”Students can save money by spending two years at Ivy Tech — where tuition is $3,000 a year — before transferring to a more expensive university such as Indiana or Purdue. IU has aligned some of its four-year degrees with two-year programs at Ivy Tech so that students can transfer easily, said IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre.“I think those (programs) have proven to be fairly popular, especially in the regional campuses,” MacIntyre said.The latest annual enrollment figures include students who took credit or noncredit classes, said Ivy Tech spokeswoman Kelly Lucas.The statistics cover the entire 2007-08 school year and include students who were enrolled during only one semester that year. That could account for part of Ivy Tech’s large numbers.Many Ivy Tech students enroll in classes for a short period of time, Lucas said. Some enroll for short-term training or certification programs, she said.Single-semester numbers are lower than the annual numbers. Ivy Tech’s fall enrollment this year, for example, was about 86,000, while Indiana University reported a record 101,000 students enrolled for its fall semester.Part of Ivy Tech’s growth in recent years can be attributed to legislative efforts.Ivy Tech was founded in the 1960s as a technical school, and for decades was focused on vocational issues. In 1999, Ivy Tech partnered with Vincennes University in an attempt to offer more diverse community college courses. But the schools had ongoing disputes and the relationship failed.In 2005, lawmakers broadened Ivy Tech’s mission to make it the state’s community college system, and rapid growth followed.