State politicians meet about Ind. scholarship financial problems

The Indiana State Budget Committee met on Wednesday to discuss possible solutions to the financial problems incurred by Indiana scholarship programs.

A study conducted by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana along  with 19 recommendations were presented to the committee.

The study indicated Indiana has increased the number of students attending college, but completion rates of students who rely on financial aid have failed to keep up.

During the past 10 years, the number of students receiving scholarship awards in Indiana increased 84 percent, a number that is surpassing available state funds.

The study also shows many students attending universities are in their late 20’s or early 30’s and are part-time students, many whom are holding down jobs and supporting a family at the same time.

“We acknowledge that the demographics on college campuses are changing,” said Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington. “There are people who are going part-time and need assistance, and we are considering solutions.”

In the last two years, need-based student demographics have switched from 33 percent adult students and 66 percent traditional students to slightly more than 50 percent adult students and slightly less than 50 percent of traditional students.  

“We ought to make more aid available to adult learners that don’t necessarily want to go full-time,” said Claudia Braman, executive director of assistance commission.

As of now, the commission only has $5 million  to distribute to students attending school on a part-time basis.

“I hope to keep the SSACI programs alive,” said Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville and Budget Committee chair.

Kenley said individual awards have been smaller than in the past. While he would like to see scholarships increase in monetary amount, he doesn’t see it happening until the state revenue increases.

The State Budget Committee also heard recommendations about adjusting the Twenty-first Century Scholars Program, a program that offers full-ride university scholarships to students with financial need.  

The program will need to spend more than 300 percent of its 2007 budget to meet the estimated need of scholars in 2017.

In order to meet the need of the Twenty-first Century Scholars Program, the assistance commission has been chipping away money from the Frank O’Bannon Grant Program, one of Indiana’s scholarship programs for children in need of post-secondary financial aid, to cover the Twenty-First Century deficiencies.

Recommendations regarding the scholars program included requiring students to participate in the program’s early intervention and student services, raising the minimum GPA for enrollment from 2.0 to 2.5, and reviewing whether or not students meet the state-required income amount when they graduate from high school and attend college.

Welsh said some of the recommendations, such as increasing the minimum GPA requirement for the Twenty-First Century Scholars Program from a 2.0 to a 2.5, will be easy, but others that involve amendments to legislation could take a few years.  

Welsh declined to comment about specifics of the amendments.

The budget committee will meet in January once the Indiana General Assembly begins its session where discussions concerning the recommendations will continue.