Commission wants more 4-year grads from state schools

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education released a plan Monday to increase the number of full-time students who graduate – especially in four years – at Indiana’s public universities.

At IU-Bloomington, 50 percent of students graduate within four years, compared to 36 percent at Purdue and 9 percent and IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, according to the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Educational Statistics.

The plan comes after two years of looking at economic statistics, said Cheryl Orr, associate commissioner of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

The strategy should help the state’s economy and help Hoosiers afford college, she said.

The commission hopes 10,000 additional students will graduate per year for the state to compete nationally and internationally, Orr said.

“We’re not suggesting everybody graduate in four years,” said Stan Jones, commissioner of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

But, he said, another benefit of improving the current system is that an extra year costs students’ families and the state money.

College can be an expensive career exploration exercise with the state investing more in each student than the cost of tuition, Orr said.

“It’s a return on our investment,” Orr said.

The plan suggests several strategies for making college more affordable, including allowing students to attend two years at a community college for free, giving more financial aid and expanding the 21st Century Scholars program to include families who make up to $57,000 a year.

She also said there is a need to make sure college is set up so students take the right course load and can transfer easily among Indiana’s state-funded colleges.
The graduation rate has not gone unnoticed at IU.

IU Spokesman Larry MacIntyre said the graduate rate has been a concern of President Michael McRobbie, adding that the expectation is for students to graduate.

The rate for IU students who graduate in six years or fewer is 72 percent, higher than some of its Big Ten peers, though the University would like to see it well over 80 percent, MacIntyre said.

“That’s our job here at the University – to educate people. That means they need to get a degree,” he said.

To start increasing graduation rates at IU and across the state, the commission has several ideas of how to best spend Indiana’s tax dollars.

The commission is turning to high schools to help solve the graduation problems.
The plan encourages career and educational exploration in high school, especially with seniors, Orr said. It also calls for more qualified high school teachers.

But it doesn’t stop at the high school level. It recommends that four-year universities yield remedial courses to community colleges, so students and the state will pay less for the equivalent of high school courses, Orr said.

But for IU-Bloomington, officials are happy with the progress the University is making.
IU’s Bloomington campus is already a competitive university and becoming more so each year, said Roger Thompson, vice provost for enrollment management.

He said IU has a stronger graduation rate than other Indiana public universities.
“Of all the Universities we’re looking at, we’re already on top,” he said.