Hooray for B’s!

In-state students at IU-Bloomington and IU-Purdue University Indianapolis will receive $300 toward 2010-11 tuition if they earn a B average both semesters this academic year. The plan is a great way to reward academic success in tough economic times.
The University Incentive Grants, which also give students earning a B average on other IU campuses $200 toward tuition, came about as compromise between the University and state Sen. Luke Kenley.

Kenley had used his position on the state budget committee to block new Purdue University and IU building projects due to his concerns that not enough was being done to fight rising tuition.

The grants are small, but $300 can be a lot in though times. As President Michael McRobbie pointed out, this will in fact effectively reduce the much-complained-about tuition increases for qualifying in-state students to less than 1.5 percent.

There might be some skepticism about the program because it only applies to in-state students.

It is true that this means a substantial number of students do not qualify. This year’s freshman class is 41 percent out-of-state and the year’s before that was 39 percent.

However, it is important to keep in mind that, while rising tuition affects all students at IU, this was a deal made by a state legislator who is concerned about how IU is serving the residents – and taxpayers – of Indiana.

Given that the grants are already expected to cost about $3 million, it is understandable that the University made them available to only Indiana residents.

It will be interesting to see how these grants affect performance compared to years past. McRobbie has suggested the possibility of allowing a form of the grants to continue even after the recession.

If these grants effectively encourage students to work harder by increasing retention rates and performance, then they would certainly be worth keeping around.