Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
BEDFORD – Indiana ranks eighth for attracting students to its colleges and universities and that’s something to celebrate. But where the state falters is retaining those students after they graduate; the state is ranked 40th in college graduate retention.
Closing the gap in those rankings is important to the state’s future because Indiana’s economy and the economic and social outcomes of its citizens are closely tied to postsecondary education attainment.
Chris Lowery, Indiana’s Commissioner for Higher Education, is focused on increasing postsecondary attainment for Hoosiers. Lowery was in Bedford Monday and spoke at the Grow Lawrence County advisory board meeting.
He discussed challenges and opportunities, and said as a state, “We can do better.”
Lowery told the gathering about the state’s efforts to increase the college-going rate, engage adult learners, improve completion rates and retain college graduates. He said those efforts start with the state being intentional in its approach to education after high school.
Indiana’s college going rate is 53% (Lawrence County’s going rate is 42%), a number that has remained stagnant for the past three years and declined for five years before hitting the current plateau.
Increasing that rate is one of Lowery’s priorities. The commission has looked at why students aren’t pursuing higher education and then crafting policies to address those reasons.
Lowery said three factors were a common thread in families’ decisions about whether their son or daughter pursued a two-year or four-year program after high school:
- Parent/guardian engagement: Parents are more influential in their students’ decisions than they perceived to be, especially true for male students.
- Career coaching/college navigation: Selecting a career path is a top challenge for students, leading to a growing need for career coaching and work-based learning opportunities to give students more exposure to career options.
- Cost perception: While cost is still cited as a barrier to college-going, many families overestimate the cost of tuition.
The state’s low college going rate has been a concern for decades. Lowery shared that in the 1960s, Indiana was in a three-way tie around 39th place with two other states for bachelor’s degrees and higher. Today, Indiana is still around 40th place but those two other states – Georgia and North Carolina – are now ranked No. 23 and No. 20 respectively.
“Folks, we’ve got work to do,” Lowery said.
More education equals better life outcomes
Lowery has been in the CHE role for almost three years. The education of Hoosiers matters for a lot of reasons, but it boils down to one simple thing – better outcomes.
At the aggregate level, citing data from the Department of Workforce Development, the unemployment rate, labor participation rate and median annual wages all improve with educational attainment.
The same is true for social metrics. Life expectancy increases and infant mortality decreases significantly depending on educational attainment. Life expectancy for a person with less than a high school diploma is age 72; for a person with a bachelor’s degree or more, life expectancy increases to 85.
Lowery has looked to the state’s 21st Century Scholars program as one way to boost the college going rate. Historically, that program was only open to students who applied in middle school. The result was less than half of eligible students enrolled in the program. But that changed when a 2023 law required the state to automatically enroll students who are eligible.
An area where the state has made strides is in adults going back to school for certifications, training, associate’s and bachelor’s degrees. He credited efforts by Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University to offer and promote programs for adults.
Ultimately, the effort to move the needle will require collaboration of leaders from business, government, education, nonprofits and philanthropic organizations.
Indiana has much to build on, Lowery said. It holds top 10 rankings for several categories including holding down tuition costs (No. 6 in nation), certification attainment (No. 5) and students who complete their degree within six years (No. 6).
