In an effort to see more college students graduate on time, the Indiana legislature is considering a bill to rectify the problem by linking financial aid to student progress.
Only half of students receiving state aid today are taking enough courses to finish in four years, and more than half never graduate at all, according to a recent column written by Teresa Lubbers, Indiana commissioner for higher education.
Under House Bill 1348, which passed the House in February 77-18 and is currently under consideration in the Indiana Senate, students would need to complete a minimum number of courses — 30 credits per year — which is the number required to graduate on time, or else face a loss in financial aid, Lubbers wrote.
She also wrote that students would receive semester-by-semester degree maps to guide their progress.
Indiana currently ranks currently ranks 40th nationally in the number of adults with education beyond high school, Lubbers wrote.
The bill also is drawing favorable reviews from local institutes of higher learning.
“We definitely support the bill, even though many of our students work full-time, making it tough for them to get the 30 hours per year,” said Ben Burton, chief student financial resources officer at Ivy Tech.
Burton praised the committee and crafters of the legislation for “really reaching out to the financial aid community and making (the) necessary adjustments.”
Burton said students taking only 12 credits per semester — 24 per year — who fall short of the mandated 30 are still eligible for the Frank O’Bannon Indiana state grant.
“For full-time students, they get a base award up to a certain cap, and the cap is based on the school they attend,” he said. “The award covers a higher percentage at a less expensive school than it would at a more costly school.
“This helps our adult learners, as well as regular Ivy Tech students,” he said.
In addition, he cited another part-time grant, for adult learners taking less than 12 credits a semester, as a valuable source of assistance.
“The fact that (legislators) built in these floors keeps (the bill) a viable option for us,” Burton said. “Had they not done that, it would have been devastating to our student population.”
Burton said that, for the 2011-12 award year, about 1,360 of Ivy Tech’s O’Bannon recipients had more than 30 hours, while almost 16,000 had less than the 30 hours.
Burton also praised an incentive in the legislation that would provide $1,300 for the following year if a student took 39 credits or more the previous year.
“I like the efforts being made to get kids graduated on time,” said State Rep. Eric Turner, R-Cicero. “Our public schools (in the state) are at 28-29 percent of graduating within four years, but our private colleges are over 60 percent,” he said. “All of our universities — public and private — need to focus on (graduating students on schedule).”
Tim Nace, director of financial aid at Taylor University, said about 80 percent of students graduate in four years.
“Almost all of our students are enrolled here full-time, and most are more like 34-35 (credit) hours per year, so our students shouldn’t have trouble staying above the minimum,” he said, adding, “We’re the kind of school that the house bill would want other schools to be like.”
Nace said 171 Taylor students received some form of Indiana state grants last year, for a total of $775,000.
He said another 31 students were 21st Century Scholars — a state initiative where seventh and eighth-grade students pledge to avoid crime, drugs and alcohol, and also keep a 2.5 GPA. If they fulfill their pledge, they can receive full tuition at any public university in Indiana, or a percentage of tuition for an Indiana private school.
Adding those students to the mix brought the total amount Taylor received from the state last year to more than $800,000, Nace said.
Nace said Taylor has received considerably less money from the state since the economic downturn of 2008.
“Before that, the maximum amount in aid we had students receive was $11,000,” he said. “Since then, the max is just over $7,000.”
Many Indiana Wesleyan students also qualified for state assistance.
Thomas Ratliff, Indiana Wesleyan University associate vice president for financial aid, said about 1,650 students received Indiana state grants this past year, “and there may be some (now) who have to adjust their pace and accelerate to meet the new standards.”
Overall, however, Ratliff said he supported the bill and it would not have a large effect on IWU.
“We have a strong graduation rate at IWU, and the bill won’t impact us much,” he said. “I agree philosophically with the bill, because Indiana is in the top 10 of states in terms of giving financial aid, and (with graduation rates where they are) they aren’t getting a return on their investment. I’m hopeful the bill will be put through.”