Indiana’s new College Readiness Reports released today show slight gains in the percentage of high school graduates going directly to college and arriving prepared for college-level coursework. Produced annually by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education in partnership with the Indiana Department of Education, the reports aim to help local schools and communities understand how their students are performing in college while informing policies that increase college readiness and success.
“While we are encouraged that the numbers are moving in the right direction, we must maintain our sense of urgency to ensure that every Indiana student finishes high school with a diploma that equips them for college and career success,” said Teresa Lubbers, Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education.
“Far too many of Hoosier students continue to need remediation, which extends the time it takes them to graduate, increases the cost of their degrees and reduces the likelihood that they graduate at all,” Lubbers noted. “The cost of college remediation is significant for Indiana students and taxpayers, at nearly $78 million per year in tuition funding, financial aid and direct state subsidies.”
Among the key findings in the new College Readiness Reports:
College Access: Two-thirds (66 percent) of Indiana’s high school graduating Class of 2012 attended college the year following graduation, up slightly from 64 percent the prior year. The majority 76 percent attended public Indiana colleges with 12 percent attending Indiana private colleges and 12 percent attending out-of-state colleges.
College Preparation: About two-thirds of Indiana’s Class of 2012 was college-ready, meaning students did not need to take a remedial English or math course. The state saw 2-3 percentage-point improvements in the proportion of students who were college-ready across nearly all student groups, including race/ethnicity and income level. However, a closer look at the numbers reveals deep disparities in college readiness by diploma type. Sixty-two (62) percent of students that graduated with a Core 40 diploma and 93 percent of Academic Honors diploma graduates were college-ready. In contrast, only 22 percent of general diploma graduates and 18 percent of waiver-diploma graduates were college-ready.
“State and local schools have a number of efforts underway to increase college-readiness,” stated State Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz, co-chair of the Indiana Career Council committee on the state’s Core 40 diploma with Commissioner Lubbers. “Efforts include the establishment of new college and career ready standards, strengthening of high school diploma options, and the implementation of early-intervention strategies, especially in the area of mathematics, that are designed to identify and address academic preparation deficiencies while students are still in high school.”
Accessing the College Readiness Reports
Available online at www.che.in.gov, the Indiana College Readiness Reports are provided at the high school, school corporation, county and state levels. The reports also are accompanied by a “User Guide” that helps schools and communities interpret the reports and use the data to inform local policy and instructional practices.
The Indiana College Readiness Reports include students who graduated from Indiana high schools in 2012 and attended a college or university during the 2013 academic year. Data for the state’s public colleges and universities is collected annually by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Data for Indiana private colleges and out-of-state colleges was provided by the National Student Clearinghouse.
