Higher expectations: reaching higher: strategic directions for higher education.

AuthorMcKimmie, Kathy
PositionEDUCATION

WHEN YOU GET RIGHT down to it, the future of Indiana's economy and the income of its residents are directly tied to the number of college graduates in the state. That's why a report from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, proposing additional financial aid for students and finally rewarding results, deserves a careful look by business.

"Reaching Higher: Strategic Directions for Higher Education," was released in June. "Most people are supportive of most of the document," says Stan Jones, CHE commissioner, "but not everybody supports all of it." On degree completion, for example, a minority of schools thinks degree completion is more of a student's responsibility. "Our concern is that only 35 percent of the students graduate on time," he says, adding that the commission's long-term goal is to have 50 percent graduate on time. Those numbers refer to students in four-year schools that graduate in four years; most schools nationally now use a six-year number for graduating from a four-year program. In Indiana, the average six-year graduation rate is 57 percent.

The commission has two main jobs: reviewing and approving or disapproving new programs or campuses at the state's public institutions of higher education; and reviewing budget requests from those institutions. It is in this second area where the commission is using its clout in the upcoming budget cycle to improve past practices.

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"Our whole budget approach is performance based," says Jones, "so the only way you can get more money is by being more productive. You won't get money just for inflation, for just doing the same things. You'll have to show that you have more degree completion, more degrees completed on time." A lot will depend on legislative action through the state budget, he says, but a lot will depend on university action. "We've been pleased that most of the universities in their strategic plans have recognized and put a priority on the importance of degree completion."

Jones explains that for each additional bachelor's degree schools would get an additional $5,000, and for each additional associate's degree they'd get $3,500. If a university had 100 more bachelor's degrees than the year before, it would get an additional $500,000.

Indiana University strongly supports the commission's financial incentives, says Neff Theobald, vice president and chief financial officer. "Research data shows that students who attend college but do not graduate...

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