Look at this: An ISU graduate points to her diploma after she accepted it May 13 during the spring commencement. Tribune-Star file/Joseph C. Garza
Indiana State University initiatives to improve graduation and retention rates are having a positive impact, officials say.
ISU’s four-year graduation rate is now 28.7 percent, up nearly 3 percentage points over last year and more than 9 points in three years. It is based on freshmen who started in 2013 and graduated by summer 2017.
The 28.7 percent graduation rate is the highest since the 1998 freshman group. Last year, the graduation rate was 25.7 percent, and three years ago, it was 19.3 percent.
In 2014, about one in five students graduated in four years, while today, about one in 3.5 students graduate in four years, said Josh Powers, ISU associate vice president for academic affairs.
“We’re excited about where Indiana state is moving,” he said. He attributes that success in large part to President Dan Bradley’s 2009 strategic plan, which “focused energy around student success, across campus and among all staff and faculty."
The graduation rate “is among the toughest metric[s] to move given lag times between initiatives and outcomes,” he said. “A 2 percentage point increase annually for a university of our size would be considered strong.”
The freshmen-to-sophomore retention rate also has improved to 67.8 percent; last year, it was 64.2 percent, representing a 3.6-point improvement. “It’s about multiple initiatives and multiple units working collaboratively,” said Linda Maule, dean of University College, which is dedicated to helping first-year students succeed.
ISU also has been making strides in improving minority graduation rates, Powers said.
The four-year African- American graduation rate is up 5.6 percentage points, surpassing the overall campus improvement. “This is important given our focus on closing achievement gaps and how many African- American students ISU enrolls, roughly 18 percent of the student body,” Powers said.
ISU is also having success in improving graduation rates for 21st Century Scholars, which is up 7.5 points to 26.2 percent. The university has a large number of those scholars, among the largest of any single campus in Indiana, Powers said. That group of students is close to matching the four-year graduation rate for the campus as a whole.
The 21st Century Scholars program is designed to help low-income Hoosiers afford college.
Powers also noted that for African-American 21st Century Scholars, the four-year graduation rate increased almost 10 points.
Some of the student success initiatives implemented in recent years include the launching of University College, which provides pro-active advising and intervenes if students face academic challenges or are at risk of dropping out. Also, ISU has provided up to six free credits to 21st Century Scholars during the summer so they can achieve the required number of credits necessary to maintain their full scholarship.
The university has a fouryear graduation guarantee for students, which assures eligible students they will be able to complete a bachelor’s degree within four years. If not, they will be able to take remaining courses tuition- free.
ISU also has a team of graduation specialists who work with juniors and seniors to ensure they take needed courses before financial aid runs out.
Maule also included living/ learning communities in residence halls, the Sycamores Care program that looks after students in distress and the university’s Center for Student Success.
The numbers presented by Powers look at all ISU students, whereas similar data from the Commission for Higher Education look at just Hoosier students.
Jade Bennie, an ISU senior from Indianapolis, said she and her twin sister are the first in their household to attend college; she is a 21st Century Scholar. As an incoming freshman, she started with the nursing program but soon found that “it was more than expected.”
Her adviser, Cedric Jones, “was a huge help in changing my major to applied health science.” Jones, along with Bennie’s peers and professors, “have made a huge impression and impact on my life. ... I feel accomplished, accepted, welcomed and most importantly that I will be successful. ISU has been so helpful in providing tons of resources, workshops and career development opportunities. ISU has challenged me in some of the best ways to help mold me into the young woman I am today,” she wrote in an email.
She was among students who took advantage of the summer “on track” award to help achieve the required number of credits to maintain her 21st Century scholarship.
© 2024 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.