The East Valley has attracted several Midwestern college branch campuses, and now the West Valley is following suit.
Indiana-based Huntington University has been working for more than three years to open a location with a digital media arts program in Peoria. The university recently signed a building lease and plans to open this fall.
Jeff Berggren is the Arizona operations director at Huntington. He said the private school has been looking at other, similar colleges that already made the trip to Arizona.
“I think it’s been maybe helpful for us to be maybe not the first university to enter into Arizona on this kind of model," he said. "We’ve been able to have a conversation with folks who’ve either been successful and kind of learn what they’ve done that might have been helpful and also (look at) the schools that have pulled out."
Berggren said the campus fills a certain niche market in the area and hopes to attract students that are looking for a smaller liberal arts college. Trine University is also based in Indiana and already has a campus in Peoria.