College preparedness is a national problem.
More than 1.7 million college freshmen across the U.S. take remedial courses each year. The annual cost of remediation to students is $1.3 billion, according to a 2016 report by the nonpartisan policy institute Center for American Progress, the latest available estimate.
Much of that money is wasted: Fewer than 50% of students enrolled in remedial courses complete them. Two-thirds of students needing remediation and attending four-year colleges fail to earn their degrees within six years. Fewer than 8% of students needing remediation in two-year colleges earn their degrees within four years.
Information shared annually by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education since 2013 proves the state’s emphasis on college readiness is paying life-altering dividends for many students and their families. Since 2011, 22% fewer Hoosiers have required college remediation – the lowest in 15 years.
Setting the pace in college attendance today are the low-income students enrolled in Indiana’s Evan Bayh 21st Century Scholars program. More Scholars than ever before – 88% who completed the program and earned full tuition to a public university – attended college in 2019.
“Twenty-first Century Scholars are closing the achievement gap and closing it for every low-income student by race and ethnicity,” said Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers. “Other positives include continuing low remediation rates, and more students are seeking shorter-term credentials than ever before.”
The key to economic stability in today’s economy is a post-secondary education: a four-year bachelor degree, two-year associate degree or training in a trade. And Indiana’s long-term focus on college preparedness proves government emphasis can lead to desired outcomes.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration Monday released the results of first-of-their-kind studies of Indiana’s On My Way Pre-K, a state program providing access to high-quality preschools to low-income children. They lay out the successes of early childhood education – and, like college-readiness, a needed statewide emphasis on kindergarten-readiness.
The first, a study by the Center for Early Learning at Purdue University, followed 376 children enrolled in On My Way Pre-K programs over several years.
It found they outperformed comparative children on the statewide ILEARN English/language arts tests in grades 3 and 4.
The second study, a Kindergarten Readiness Indicators assessment by the University of Chicago, measured oral language, literacy and math skills of 1,608 of the 2,476 Hoosiers enrolled in On My Way Pre-K classrooms in the spring of 2021. It compared their kindergarten readiness with the national norms of higher-income children.
On average, On My Way Pre-K students scored at or above those national targets on 29% of the language and literacy skills and 40% of the math skills – still below the national average in most cases, but better than students with no access to quality pre-K.
“The studies show that Indiana’s investment in high-quality early education for the children of lower-income families is helping our youngest learners achieve at their greatest potential for years to come,” said Gov. Eric Holcomb. “Giving children a good start on their education pathway delivers a more well-prepared student and ultimately a ready-to-go workforce, both key elements to our state’s future growth and opportunity.”
Readying young children for kindergarten is much more than ensuring they know their 123s and ABCs. Preschool prepares little ones to become learners, and 204 Allen County children are enrolled in On My Way Pre-K. The need for access to state-supported early learning outpaces opportunity here and in smaller, more rural areas. Six Hoosier counties, including DeKalb, have zero program participants.
The next step in the evolution of On My Way Pre-K must be state incentives for public and private investments to develop quality pre-K centers in less populated counties, as well as financial aid for early childhood educators through scholarships and small-business grants.
All children deserve to start school with a pencil box full of knowledge and confidence.
