The University of Indianapolis will begin to offer bachelor's degrees in engineering next fall.

The first phase of the program is focused on Industrial Engineering and Software Engineering, two specialties not widely available in central Indiana. Until now, the school has offered engineering only in partnership with other institutions.

"This program continues the momentum of the University of Indianapolis as we develop curricula aligned with industry and global needs," University President Robert Manuel said in a statement. "We have a history of creating programs that connect the academy to the world around it, just as we established schools of education, nursing, adult learning, psychology, and physical and occupational therapy and built them into respected national models."

The industrial engineering program will teach students how to design, develop and evaluate the complex systems involved in the processing and delivery of an endless range of products and services. The Software Engineering curriculum will prepare graduates to design, develop and evaluate large-scale software systems in terms of cost-effectiveness, efficiency and reliability throughout the software life cycle.

While providing the STEM preparation vital to careers of the future, the engineering program will be rooted in the foundational skill development that enables graduates to be leaders as well as technical experts.

"Increasingly, employers are emphasizing the need for strong, broad-based skills in communication, critical thinking, problem solving and global awareness, in addition to a specialized knowledge base," Deborah Balogh, executive vice president and provost, said in a statement. "These are precisely the skills that we develop, with an intensive, problem-based and team-based design component built upon the liberal arts foundation provided by our Shaheen College of Arts & Sciences."

School officials believe the new degree, which will be introduced amid rising workforce demand, will fill clear niches in the marketplace. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for software engineers is expected to grow by 30 percent from 2010 to 2020. Systems software developers, one likely career path for software engineers, earned a mean annual salary of $84,950 in Indiana and $106,050 nationally in 2014.

Industrial engineering, one of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development's "Hoosier Hot 50" jobs for 2015, offered a 2014 mean salary of $72,170 in Indiana and $85,110 nationally. Career options include operations management, facility management and systems analysis.