The Indiana Commission for Higher Education says they have a problem. The number of Hoosier high school graduates who move on to college continues to drop.
“There has been a decline in the transition, or the college going rate, for the past few years,” says Commissioner Chris Lowery, “over a five year period, the college going rate has declined from 65 to 53-percent.”
Commissioner Lowery believes this decline is the result of a combination of factors: the COVID-19 pandemic, financial challenges, a lack of communication and scholarship information available to parents, so on and so forth. For many students, the idea of college just isn’t what it used to be.
Lowery explains, “I would sum it up as a challenge with the perception, sometimes reality, but the perception of the value of higher education.” Lowery says that most students tend to face three roadblocks when considering college: affordability, quality of education, and career relevance. One scholarship program that helps students move on to college is 21st Century Scholars but less than half of eligible students take advantage of that program, says Commissioner Lowery.
Lowery says the Higher Education Commission has restructured internally and redesigned their communication strategies. To put it simply, the commission wants to get aggressive.
“We need to reverse the trend, I would say we need to be aggressive and bold about it,” Lowery continues, “we’ve got to reverse the trend with high school students and we have to get more adults engaged. There are two million working age Hoosiers without post secondary attainment beyond the high school diploma. And the reality is that the skills required for today and tomorrow’s workforce require more.”