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What should Indiana do to increase the number of Hoosier students who go to college?
Last year, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education sounded the alarm that only 53% of students enrolled in some form of education beyond high school in 2020. The soon-to-be-released College Readiness report will show no improvement with the class of 2021. Indiana’s college-going rate has been steadily declining, falling from 65% in 2015.
Higher education is the cornerstone of economic vitality, individual social mobility and civil society. Greater levels of education lead to better outcomes for individuals, for employers, for communities and for our state. Positive outcomes can be seen in Hoosiers’ wages, unemployment rates, labor participation, and even life expectancy and infant mortality.
The challenges facing higher education in Indiana keep me up at night and fuel the work of the commission, but great progress was made during the 2023 legislative session. Success included support for the commission’s revised outcomes-based performance funding formula, which will allow the state to remain focused on college completions but also emphasize the critical areas of enrollment and graduate retention. Combined with emphatic support from education leaders, employers, community partners and philanthropy, I am optimistic for the future.
Indiana’s 21st Century Scholarship is a beacon of hope for the college-going rate. Since its creation, the scholarship has been a nationally recognized promise program with transformational success. Over 80% of scholars enroll in college upon graduation, compared with roughly 30% of their low-income peers. However, enrollment in the program remained a challenge, with less than half of eligible students signing up in middle school.
Thanks to resounding support from Gov. Holcomb and bipartisan legislative support, in the form of HEA 1449, the commission can now start automatically enrolling all financially eligible students in the 21st Century Scholarship this summer. This removes a significant barrier for Hoosiers, allowing the commission and its partners to shift resources toward ensuring students are succeeding in high school, in college and beyond. Indiana will begin to see the full impact of auto enrollment on the college-going rate in 2027.
Further, we advocated successfully for the passage of legislation to make standard completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for all high school seniors. Now, more students will have access to Indiana’s nearly $400 million in state financial aid, federal aid and other scholarships.
The commission is also implementing its Indiana Pre-Admissions: Your Path to College initiative this summer with the high school class of 2024. Students will be provided with a list of public and private in-state institutions where they meet admissions requirements based on academic performance. It will inform high school seniors about their choices for higher education in Indiana and share various resources to help make the costs of attendance more manageable.
The policies, programs and partnerships are in place. The commission is laser-focused on setting and meeting long-term goals within its Hoosier Opportunities and Possibilities through Education (HOPE) agenda, centered on enrollment, completion and graduate retention. I am filled with hope that, together, our great state will become a top 10 state in human capital development.•
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Lowery was appointed in 2022 to serve as commissioner for Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.
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The barrier to enter Skilled Trades and make a good living is so much lower than college tuition and much needed in todays work force. In an age where skilled trades is lacking heavily in employing new people, it should come as no surprise. When a Union Operator makes $40.00 an hour right out of apprenticeship, this is a pretty good starting wage I would say compared to college.