INDIANAPOLIS —
Indiana higher-education policymakers are getting ready to adopt an aggressive college-completion plan that will push the state’s universities to reel in their rising costs and dramatically improve their graduation rates.
The plan sets the goal of increasing the percent of Hoosiers with post-secondary degrees to 60 percent by 2025 — nearly doubling the current rate.
To get there, the plan calls for the state’s universities to set specific targets for graduating students on time, decreasing the student debt load and accelerating degree programs that match the state’s work force needs.
Some university presidents are already balking at the plan’s goal and directives, which are set to be adopted by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
But Teresa Lubbers, who heads the commission, said the plan is needed to pull Indiana up to where it needs to be to fill a void in the state’s human capital.
“We are digging ourselves out of a very big hole,” Lubbers told a group of university officials who saw a preview of the plan Tuesday. “We need aggressive goals.”
Driving the plan are some dismal numbers: Indiana ranks 42nd in the nation for college graduates and third in the nation for student-loan defaults. Meanwhile, the state’s four-year universities graduate less than one-third of their students on time, but have increased their tuition and fees by more than 100 percent over the past decade.
Indiana’s low college-graduation rate puts Indiana in peril; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that more than half the job vacancies by 2018 will require someone with a college degree or other post-secondary credentials.
The plan to reverse that course, dubbed “Reaching Higher, Achieving More,” offers some specific remedies to counter those numbers.
For example, the plan calls on universities to set annual targets for improving the cost-per-degree ratio at their campuses; to streamline some four-year degrees into three-year degrees; and to publicly release information on their graduates’ job placement rates and earnings.
Lubbers previewed the plan at a meeting of the Indiana College Completion Council, a new organization made up of the state’s public, private and for-profit universities and colleges.
While some council members, including Indiana State University President Dan Bradley, questioned whether the 60 percent college-degree rate was attainable by 2025, other university presidents seemed to question the premise on which the plan was built.
University of Southern Indiana President Linda Bennett said USI students don’t see graduating on time as a priority.
Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora said she didn’t think it was “appropriate” for the state’s universities to push their students to pursue math and science degrees that are already in high demand in the workplace. She also said she wanted the commission to do more to convince parents that Indiana’s average student debt load of $27,000 isn’t exorbitant.
Other university officials at the meeting blamed the state’s K-12 schools, saying students were coming to college ill-prepared to do the work.
But the “Reaching Higher, Achieving More” plan rejects those notions and calls upon the state’s universities to act more aggressively. It notes, for example, that 90 percent of teachers in Indiana’s K-12 schools earned their degrees from Indiana colleges and universities. So it calls on those institutions to do a better job of teaching their teachers, and to be more engaged with the state’s K-12 schools.
The plan is prescriptive but with limited clout. The Commission for Higher Education can’t force the state’s universities to adopt the plan’s goals. But the commission does recommend funding levels for the state’s public universities, and the Indiana Legislature has adopted a funding formula that ties some higher-education dollars to meeting the commission’s goals.
Maureen Hayden covers the Statehouse for the CNHI newspapers in Indiana.
State News
State aims up with college graduate plan
60% of Hoosiers would hold degrees under plan
- State News
-
-
Critics: Indiana withholds mentally ill kids’ care
Child advocates, prosecutors and officials say Indiana is treating its mentally ill children like criminals by placing them in juvenile detention centers instead of offering them the care they need.
-
State takeover of failing schools meets resistance
A decade after Indiana legislators gave the state the power to take over chronically failing schools, the first implementation of the law is meeting with resistance, skepticism, and questions about its costs.
-
Howard County hospital acquisition clears another hurdle
The planned acquisition of Howard County Regional Health System by the Indianapolis-based Community Health Network cleared another hurdle Tuesday, when the Indiana Finance Authority OK’d the transfer of the Howard County hospital’s debt obligations to Community Health.
-
Mall-based schools offer second chance for at-risk students
Jayne Carter spends her mornings at a shopping mall earning her high school degree. It may sound like a teenager’s dream, but for Carter, 18, and her classmates, it’s a second chance.
-
Maureen Hayden: Why did 3 million Hoosiers choose not to vote?
If you voted in last Tuesday’s primary, raise your hand. Congratulations. You’re part of the small minority of Hoosiers who exercised a right that citizens around the world covet deeply and for which many still risk their lives. For those of you with your hands down, here’s a question: Where were you?
-
Early intervention efforts try to prevent future dropouts
West Goshen Elementary has become a national model for a teaching-excellence program funded by public and private sources, the Teacher Advancement Program, or TAP.
-
3 brothers sentenced in Midwest human smuggling
Federal prosecutors in Indianapolis say three brothers have been sentenced to prison for running an operation that smuggled women into the United States and forced them into prostitution throughout the Midwest.
-
Making lemonade out of Lemons
Press Pass
-
Lugar, Mourdock in final push for voters
Inside his campaign headquarters in Indianapolis, there’s a photo of U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar shaking hands with former U.S. Secretary Condoleeza Rice, one of the many Republican Party heavyweights who’ve endorsed his re-election.
-
Maureen Hayden: Lugar running his toughest race Tuesday
You may think 80 is old, but U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, who hit that mile marker in April, has this message for people who think he needs to retire: I can still run.
-
Early voting, including absentee ballots, declines from 2008
Indiana’s hotly contested Republican Senate primary race has generated more than $12 million in campaign spending, including a record-topping $4 million in outside dollars.
-
Making Medora movie
Press Pass
-
Emergency stage rules approved
Even before the state’s new emergency rules covering outdoor stage equipment went into effect, the small town of Orleans felt their impact.
-
Memorial service honors workers killed on job
On Monday, Kelley Magill made her first visit to the memorial to honor her brother, Daniel Weger, a 31-year-old husband and father of three from Terre Haute who was killed in a work-related accident last June.
-
Evidence shows public corruption cases hard to prove
As part of his promise to make public corruption one of his top prosecution priorities, U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett has set up a hot line for anonymous whistle blowers.
-
New task force aims to root out public corruption
Criminal violations of the public’s trust will be investigated by a new Public Corruption Working Group comprised of multiple federal and state agencies.
-
State steps up efforts on stage safety
Fair and festival organizers throughout the state should expect more scrutiny of their outdoor entertainment venues this summer, even before new emergency stage regulations kick in.
-
Daniels addressing group pushing for safer stages
Gov. Mitch Daniels is taking Indiana’s lessons from last summer’s deadly State Fair stage collapse to an entertainment industry group that’s pushing for safer outdoor venues.
-
Beard continues to win
Stacey Latovia wasn’t your typical Russian tennis phenom, In fact, she wasn’t even Russian — and her name wasn’t really Latovia. But that name still makes North Daviess senior tennis player Stacey Beard smile.
-
Too late to change
Press Pass
-
Ruling in mo-ped case could drive new law
State law prohibits motorists with suspended driving privileges from getting back on the road, but an Indiana man is arguing that the mo-ped he rode down a state highway at 42 miles an hour isn’t covered by the law.
-
Indiana State Police to crack down on seat belt use
Indiana State Police will be watching for motorists who don’t wear their seat belts during special patrols over the next four weeks.
-
Indiana loses as more states gamble on casino revenues
Ohio’s first casino, combined with three more casinos soon to open in the Buckeye state, will generate 7,500 permanent jobs, 9,700 temporary construction jobs, and $600 million annually in tax revenues statewide. But Ohio’s windfall spells trouble for Indiana.
-
Trying to find my Cub-ness again
The Press Pass
-
Ex-bank executive to take over Indiana revenue office
A former bank executive will take the helm of Indiana’s embattled revenue department.
-
"Z" to return to Hatchet House
Which is better, seeing Tyler Zeller in the Hatchet House as high school All-American — or a college All-American? Fans can decide for themselves on Saturday night.
-
Apparent intruder fatally shot in Fort Wayne
Police in Fort Wayne say an apartment resident fatally shot a man who the resident told officers had kicked in the door to the home.
-
After dull debate, GOP Senate race turns to ground game
Richard Mourdock said he was hoping for a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate with incumbent Sen. Richard Lugar — the kind that brings sharp issues into critical focus and propels a little-known candidate toward fame. Instead, he got what one political observer called “a valuable service to insomniacs everywhere.”
-
Report: Collapsed Indiana fair stage didn’t meet code
An engineering review released today found that the stage rigging that collapsed and killed seven people during last summer’s Indiana State Fair wasn’t built strong enough to meet state building codes.
-
Debate a civil war of words
Voters who tuned in to the lone debate between longtime U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar and his tea party opponent, Richard Mourdock, may have been disappointed if they expected to see a heated battle.
- More State News Headlines
-
Critics: Indiana withholds mentally ill kids’ care
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Police: Gunman Has Hostages in Realty Office
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Dragon Arrives at Space Station in Historic 1st
Beer Here!: An Historic Exhibit
Raw Video: SpaceX Capsule's Docking Delayed
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
Passenger Restrained on Flight to Miami Arrested
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Sudden Storm Topples Wisconsin Trees
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Raw Video: Toddler Trapped in Washing Machine
Raw Video: Wildfire Burns 110 Square Miles
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
Kristen Stewart Is Red Hot
Shark Attacks Australian Fishing Boat
Bradley out for playoffs
Kayaker Survives Trip Over Washington Waterfall
Alison Brie Likes To Jog Naked
Heidi Klum Goes Sheer
Alton's Best Burger Ever
Ellie Kemper's Stripper Surprise on 'Ellen'
Maddie the Balancing Dog On Cross-Country Trip
Crawford's Sexy Leather Look
Boys eyes 'removed with spoon'
"Twilight" Stars Caught Kissing
Etan Patz Case: Suspect Arrested
Britney's Hot Pink Mini-Dress
Wrongfully accused rapist exonerated after 5 years in jail
Actress to Play Casey Anthony
Hurricane Forecast: 15 Named Storms Expected
Prince William on The Queen: 'Woman in Man's World'
