(Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette
Overall college enrollment and the state’s college-going rate are beginning to turn around after more than a decade of declines, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education announced last week.
Fifty-three percent of 2021 high school graduates are pursuing some form of postsecondary education. Additionally, Indiana colleges and universities this fall saw nearly 5,000 more students enroll than in 2022, and students completing their degree programs on time has increased almost 9% over the past five years.
Before the 2023 session of the Indiana General Assembly, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce sounded the alarm about post-high school education. President and CEO Kevin Brinegar told journalists the most serious challenge facing the state was improving K-12 educational outcomes for students of all races and income levels.
“Indiana has a massively leaking talent pipeline,” Brinegar said during an online news conference with Indiana media in November 2022. He pointed to two crucial statistics: 54.3% of Hoosiers age 20 to 65 with just a high school diploma were unemployed, and 60% of state residents with no high school diploma were not in the workforce.
Brinegar asked lawmakers to consider two requirements to assist students in realizing their potential: mandating all students fill out the Free Application for Student Aid, or FAFSA, form in order to graduate, and automatically enrolling all income-eligible students into the state’s 21st Century Scholars program. Both were adopted.
And the Commission on Higher Education now is offering pre-admissions to encourage this year’s high school seniors to consider multiple paths to further their education. “Indiana Pre-Admissions: Your Path to College” launched in the summer.
According to the commission, college enrollment increased 2% compared to 2022, making 2023 the first time in 13 years Indiana has seen an increase. More than 244,000 students, both undergraduate and graduate, enrolled in one of the state’s public institutions this fall.
Indiana’s college completion rates also have improved over the past five years at two- and four-year state campuses. On-time completion rates have increased nearly 6% at four-year colleges and 9.3% at two-year schools.
Extended-time completion rates — within six years for any degree type — have seen similar improvements. Almost 70% of all students graduate within six years, an 8% improvement over five years prior.
While most Americans with college degrees see value in them, Indiana’s college-going rate plunged from 70% in 2016 to 53% in 2021. According to Pew Research, the reasons for either not attending college or dropping out before completion include affordability, low unemployment rates, the need to earn money for family and, regrettably, at least 13% of respondents said they didn’t think college was an option.
It’s easy to see how pre-admission and free federal student aid filing remove some of the anxiety potential college students and their families face in an expensive but life-altering experience.
The public good from a better-educated populace needs to be valued by all Hoosiers. People with more education have lower smoking rates, higher voter participation and are more civically engaged, to name just a few benefits. The inverse is worse health and voting outcomes, and the loss of college graduates to better-paying jobs in other states.
Indiana’s new college pre-admissions program, its auto-enrollment for the 21st Century Scholars program and mandatory filing of free federal student aid forms are evidence that state and legislative leaders are finally focusing beyond the manufacturing sector on which the state has long depended. The new initiatives could help convince more high school seniors to enroll in college, and in the process help repair the state’s leaking talent pool and build better economic fortunes for workers and employers.
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