The most recent statistics, which was secretly published by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, shows that less than 52 percent of 2023 high school grads in Indiana attended college straight.
That represents a further drop from the state’s last peak and the lowest rate in recent memory.
According to data, just 51.7% of 2023 graduates—roughly 39,000 students—enrolled in college within a year of graduating from high school. That is far lower than the state’s peak of 65% ten years ago, and it is down from a stable 53% between 2020 and 2022.
Approximately 36% of all graduating seniors attended a public four-year university in Indiana, with 8% opting for a private college or university.
The data also showed that 7.6% of students attended a school outside of Indiana.
The numbers, which were uploaded to the agency’s website earlier this month, are consistent with long-standing concerns by state leaders on Indiana’s dwindling college-going culture, particularly as the state places more emphasis on work-based learning and job credentials.
Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, said in a statement released Wednesday that the shocking decline in our college enrollment rate be once again be attributed to a lack of two things: money and morale.
Our governor has been celebrating his success in having tuition at our public universities frozen, but he hasn’t promised that his action won’t result in less chances for financial aid and scholarships, DeLaney added. More Hoosiers will be compelled to pick an alternative because they will be unable to pay education if there is no chance for tuition assistance.
The 2023 figures were released just six months after the Higher Education Commission approved comprehensive changes to Indiana’s high school curriculum that prioritize career preparedness and work-based learning above traditional college preparation. The reforms are scheduled to go into force statewide in 2029.
To graduate from high school, students must obtain at least one graduation seal, which will include possibilities for work or preparation for college education. Graduates will no longer need to finish all curriculum or fulfill other requirements usually needed for college entry, even though some seal alternatives are designed especially for pupils who plan to attend college.
Republican leaders have been undervaluing the chances that our schools and institutions can provide kids, according to DeLaney.
According to the lawmaker, the supermajority has made targeting colleges and universities the main focus of their culture war agenda. This includes regulating what can be taught in classrooms, forcing institutions to drop hundreds of degree options, and developing a brand-new high school diploma that places an emphasis on a direct route into the workforce.
According to DeLaney, the Commission on Higher Education is aware that this does not look good and is not doing action to address it, as seen by their attempt to hide the study on a website rather than issuing a news release. They just don’t think it’s important enough. They are occupied with developing new assessments and doing away with college courses. The legislature has requested that they do this.
A request for comment on Wednesday was not immediately answered by CHE, and the company has not released a press statement on the most recent data.
Over the past 15 years, Indiana’s college-going rate has decreased more than that of any other state monitored by the National Center for Education Statistics.
In the past, Indiana had a 65% college enrollment rate.
“When it slumped, we set a goal to get it back,” DeLaney said. We don’t appear to care to deal with the problem anymore. That is a disgrace to our state, our economy, and our students.
Additional legislation mandating public universities to discontinue low-enrollment degree programs was passed earlier this year by Republican lawmakers. Over 400 academic degree programs have been eliminated or combined thus far by Indiana’s public colleges and universities.
This is the accomplishment of the supermajority, which has held power for 20 years, according to DeLaney. We must eventually consider if a falling college enrollment rate is the desired outcome.
By the numbers
The majority of 2023 graduates who pursued further education obtained college credit while still in high school, according to data posted on CHE’s online college-going dashboard: 90.7% of college students obtained the Indiana College Core diploma, which consists of a block of 30 general education credits that can be accepted and transferred to colleges throughout the state; 64.6% obtained dual credit; and 85.6% took and passed an Advanced Placement exam. 86.3% obtained an associate’s degree, while 63.6% obtained a different kind of certification.
25% of students enrolled in postsecondary education are pursuing degrees in STEM fields, whereas:
- 17.8% enrolled in business and communications programs
- 16% enrolled in health programs
- 11% enrolled in social and behavioral sciences and human services programs
- 9.9% enrolled in arts and humanities programs
- 7.4% enrolled in trades programs
- 5.8% enrolled in education programs
- 7% were undecided
The gender gap between male and female students widened as the percentage of male students attending college fell to 45% from 59%.
White students were the most likely to attend college (54%), followed by Asian students (70.7%). However, the rates of college enrollment among other racial groups trailed behind, with Black students having a rate of 45.5% and Hispanic students having a rate of 41.7%.
According to their eligibility for free or reduced lunches, the rate for students from low-income families was 38.7%, while the rate for their classmates from higher-income families was almost 60%.
According to the latest data, over 78% of the 2023 cohort’s college-bound grads participated in Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars program. For low-income eighth-grade students, the scholarship fund covers all tuition and fees at Indiana colleges and universities.
The statistics also included an update on the Class of 2022.
53% of the 2022 cohort who enrolled in a postsecondary program within a year of graduating from high school fulfilled all three early college success criteria, according to the CHE dashboard: they did not require remediation, they finished every course they attempted in their first year of enrollment, and they continued their education into their second year.
77.5% of the 2022 cohort that enrolled in a postsecondary program continued through the second year, according to the most recent data.
