State Higher Education Commission Urges Indiana Schools to Graduate 10,000 More Students a Year

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:58:00 GMT

A new plan unveiled Monday by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education calls for the state-supported colleges and universities in Indiana to graduate 10,000 more students with bachelor’s degrees each year — an increase of 33 percent — and to graduate these students in just four years, according to the Associated Press (“Indiana Seeks 10,000 More College Graduates a Year,” Sept. 9, 2008).

Under the proposed plan, Indiana would rank among the top 10 states in the nation for college degree completion by 2012. Indiana is currently 10th in the nation for the number of its high school graduates who enroll in college — 62 percent — but 57 percent of the state’s college students take six years to graduate and only 36 percent graduate within four years.

“We want more degrees and we want them on time,” said commission member Gerald Bepko, former chancellor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

To motivate state schools to improve their four-year graduation rates — a move that the commission contends will reduce students’ college costs and student loan debt — the commission proposes that state funding be tied to a college’s degree completion rate rather than its enrollment growth.

“They used to say, ‘Give us more money and we’ll do a better job,’ ” said Stan Jones, state commissioner of higher education. “We’re saying, ‘Do a better job and we’ll give you more money.’ ”

The commission also hopes to build up the state’s community college system to make it easier, financially, for students to complete their bachelor’s degree in four years. The commission recommends that community colleges work to double their enrollment over the next 10 years and make the first two years of community college tuition free for students whose families earn less than $50,000 a year.

The plan would, in addition, make more families eligible for state financial aid by raising income limits.

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State Higher Education Commission Urges Indiana Schools to Graduate 10,000 More Students a Year