College Report Shows Progress, Challenges
Lubbers says the commission measures achievement campus-by-campus.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowMore Indiana students are graduating from college, but a new report from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education suggests there is still work to do. The commission’s third annual College Completion Report shows on-time graduation in Indiana increased by more than five percent between 2012 and 2015, which Commissioner Teresa Lubbers says is "not an easy number to move." However, she says the state is still “nowhere close to where we need to be” in closing the achievement gap for minority students.
The report says, between 2012 and 2015, the number of students earning a bachelor’s degree in four years reached 39.6 percent. The number of students earning associate degrees in two years increased by 4.4 percent over the same period. In a release, Lubbers said the gains "coincide with significant efforts at the state and campus level to boost student support and reduce the time it takes students to complete degrees."
The bad news, says the commission, is that achievement gap measures show "significant progress" is needed to reach state goals. The report shows, while black students graduate in higher numbers than the Hispanic student population, Hispanic students are twice as likely to graduate on time. The commission measures achievement campus-by-campus. It reports that Ball State University is the closest to closing the minority achievement gap, while Indiana University South Bend made the largest gains between 2012 and 2015.
You can find more information and link to the full reports by clicking here.
Lubbers says the commission continues to put a focus on aligning college offerings with work force needs.