Grad rates fall for 21st Century Scholars

IU students in the 21st Century Scholars Program are graduating at rates nearly 20 percent lower than the University average, according to a study sponsored by the Lumina Foundation for Education.\nLumina, a national private foundation, concentrated on the impact the 21st Century Scholars Program has had on the degree earnings of low-income students and assessed data of both scholars and nonscholars.\nThe study found low-income students who take the 21st Century Scholars Program pledge as eighth-graders have higher odds of enrolling in college than their peers. It reported 21st Century Scholars are more likely to receive two-year degrees but just as likely to receive four-year degrees as other low-income nonscholars.\nThe coordinator for the Office of 21st Century Scholars at IU-Bloomington, Jeanetta Nelms, said the Bloomington campus has 851 undergraduates currently enrolled in the 21st Century Scholars Program. The average grade point average for the scholars is 2.89, and the most recent graduation rate from 2003 was 44 percent. \nThe entire Bloomington campus had a 71 percent graduation rate based on a six-year retention rate. The statewide college graduation rate was 63 percent.\n"Without the program, we would have a larger number of students not going to college," Nelms said.\nThe program was implemented in 1990 under then-Gov. Evan Bayh -- currently a U.S. senator from Indiana -- and the Indiana General Assembly. Students enroll in the program as seventh- and eighth-graders. The program offers resources and workshops to enrolled students to keep them on the track toward higher education. Students who graduate with an Indiana high school diploma and maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average can then attend any Indiana college, university or technical school. The scholarship is based on financial need and covers the costs of tuition and mandatory fees. \nIn an e-mail, Bayh's spokeswoman Meghan Keck said the senator believes the program has helped thousands of students but believes those involved in the program's administration can do more to help the program.\n"It's something we all need to work on together," she said.\nIndiana spends $19 million each year on the program and has roughly 22,000 scholars enrolled in college classes. Statewide, there are roughly 54,000 scholars enrolled from grades seven through 12, said State Director for the 21st Century Scholarship Program Seana Murphy. \n"From the inception of the program to 2004, 50 percent of our students that use our scholarship graduate from college," Murphy said. \nRepresentatives from both the State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education said 21st Century Scholars graduation rates from separate state schools had not been collected, but both organizations are starting to collect the data.\nNelms said the graduation statistic for 21st Century Scholars, which was determined by the Office of Institutional Research at IU, did not include students enrolled in the summer program who might have graduated during the summer sessions.\n"I would think it is safe to say, based on yearly increases, at least half or more than half of our students graduate," Nelms said. "But, just based on the fact that I have, at least 299 of my sophomores, juniors and seniors with a 3.0 GPA average or above, I would say we're probably above that average."\nNelms said many students come from academic backgrounds that might not have challenged them enough to best prepare them for the university environment, but that is where the site coordinators around the state are stepping up to prepare scholars for college.\n"You can't compare average students to above-average students," said Nelms. "I think the students here on this campus are doing just as well as non-21st Century Scholars in the same circumstances, concerning income and social issues."\nSite Coordinator for the South Central Region Lorraine Robert said regional coordinators are working more closely with scholars' parents to educate them and prepare them for their children's future education. Because the scholarship only pays for tuition and fees, Robert said other monetary needs can become major issues for scholars and their families.\n"We offer workshops, parent meetings, and we send out newsletters to parents," Robert said. "We're getting more and more focused on parents as a consequence. We're trying to prepare them way ahead of time for the monetary issues."\nIU senior and 21st Century Scholar Sha-Hanna Lewis said she has received much support from the program since she was enrolled as a seventh-grader. In middle school, Lewis attended summer camps held by the program that she said pushed young people like her toward college. She said the program on campus has been very supportive as well.\n"(Nelms) sends us e-mails about internship opportunities, scholarship opportunities, deadlines coming up, and she always sends out reminder e-mails about the usual things like registration and drop/add deadlines," Lewis said.\nShe said the program offers a lot to the scholars on campus, and students have an opportunity to become directly involved and create a support system.\n"I'm pretty active with it here," Lewis said. "We try to have programs to bring together the scholars here on campus to let them know who each other are"