Leaders & Laggards

A State-by-State Report Card on Public Postsecondary Education

Indiana

Student Access & Success

Indiana’s four-year institutions’ completion rate, retention rate, and the percentage of undergraduates receiving Pell Grants are all near the national medians. Indiana’s two- year institutions have a high percentage of Pell recipients, but the state’s credentials produced per 100 full-time equivalent undergraduates, completion rate, and retention rate are all near the bottom nationally, resulting in the state’s low grade.

Efficiency & Cost-Effectiveness

Indiana’s four-year institutions’ state and local funding per completion ($40,260) is below the national median of $41,198, though the state’s cost per completion ($85,833) is in the bottom five nationally. Indiana’s two-year institutions fare much better, with a cost per completion ($45,417) and state and local funding per completion ($27,439) both in the top third nationally.

Meeting Labor Market Demand

The median wage of an Indiana bachelor’s degree holder is approximately $16,800 (or 53%) more than the median wage of a high school graduate; the overall unemployment rate for a bachelor’s degree holder is about 5 points lower. The median wage of an associate’s degree holder is $8,000 (or 25%) more than the median wage of a high school graduate; the overall unemployment rate is about 3.5 points lower.

Transparency & Accountability

Indiana gets average marks in this area. The state’s consumer information site, “Learn More Indiana,” links directly to each institution’s National Center for Education Statistics College Navigator profile, allowing consumers to access student outcomes and net price information for each school. The state does not measure student learning outcomes, though the Indiana Workforce Intelligence System tracks labor market outcomes for all state public college and university graduates.

Policy Environment

The state’s “Reaching Higher” plan has clear goals, often comparing with other states, concerning a number of student outcomes and efficiency issues. Indiana also has an outcomes-based funding system. Institutions are funded based on seven priorities, and roughly 6% to 7% of an institution’s base funding is at stake. Transfer Indiana is a core transfer library that shows students which classes will transfer among all Indiana’s public campuses.

Innovation

The Indiana College Network is a strong effort to promote online learning that provides access to online offerings across campuses in the state and facilitates transfer of online credit across institutions. Regarding new providers, Indiana asserts minimal regulatory jurisdiction and approval fees are low, but its approval process is fairly burdensome compared with other states, contributing to an overall average grade.

Report Card

Compare with

Four-Year Institutions

IN Nat'l
Student Access & Success C
Percentage of Pell Grant Recipients 29.7 30.8
Retention Rate 77.6 77.9
Completion Rate 53.4 54.5
Completions per 100 FTE Students 18.4 19.7
Risk-Adjusted Completion Points (5-point Scale) 3
Complete College America *
Efficiency & Cost-Effectiveness D
Cost Per Completion $85,833 $68,140
State and Local Funding Per Completion $40,260 $41,198
State, Local, and Tuition Funding Per Completion $89,807 $76,932
Cost Per Completion and Public Funding Combined Measure (5-point scale) 2
Meeting Labor Market Demand B
BA vs. HS Wage Gap (Overall) $16,787 $17,881
BA vs. HS Wage Ratio (Overall) 152.5 156.0
BA vs. HS Wage Gap (25–34) $12,700 $12,703
BA vs. HS Wage Ratio (25–34) 147.1 149.9
BA vs. HS Unemployment Gap (Overall) 5.2 4.0
BA vs. HS Unemployment Ratio (Overall) 2.3 2.1
BA vs. HS Unemployment Gap (25–34) 9.1 7.1
BA vs. HS Unemployment Ratio (25–34) 3.3 2.9
Transparency & Accountability C
Transparency—Public Accountability (5-point Scale) 4
Transparency—Consumer Information (3-point Scale) 2
Does the State Report Labor Market Outcomes? true
Labor Market Outcomes (4-point Scale) 1
Does the State Report Student Learning Outcomes? false
Student Learning Outcomes (3-point Scale) 0

Two-Year Institutions

IN Nat'l
Student Access & Success D
Percentage of Pell Grant Recipients 65.6 46.9
Retention Rate 54.5 58.6
Completion Rate 12.5 20.5
Completions Per 100 FTE Undergraduates 13.3 16.8
Risk-Adjusted Completion Points (5-point Scale) 2
Efficiency & Cost-Effectiveness B
Cost Per Completion $45,417 $57,210
State and Local Funding Per Completion $27,439 $35,476
State, Local, and Tuition Funding Per Completion $47,136 $52,512
Cost Per Completion and Public Funding Combined MeasureCombined Measure (5-point Scale) 4
Meeting Labor Market Demand C
AA vs. HS Wage Gap (Overall) $8,000 $8,545
AA vs. HS Wage Ratio (Overall) 125.0 126.1
AA vs. HS Wage Gap (25–34) $8,634 $6,595
AA vs. HS Wage Ratio (25–34) 132.0 125.0
AA vs. HS Unemployment Gap (Overall) 3.5 2.7
AA vs. HS Unemployment Ratio (Overall) 1.6 1.5
AA vs. HS Unemployment Gap (25–34) 6.9 4.9
AA vs. HS Unemployment Ratio (25–34) 2.11 1.84
Transparency & Accountability C
Transparency—Public Accountability (5-point Scale) 5
Transparency—Consumer Information (3-point Scale) 2
Does the State Report Labor Market Outcomes? true
Labor Market Outcomes (4-point Scale) 1
Does the State Report Student Learning Outcomes? false
Student Learning Outcomes (3-point Scale) 0

State

IN Nat'l
Policy Environment A
State Goals (6-point Scale) 6
Does the State Have Outcomes-Based Funding? true
Four-Year Outcomes-Based Funding (3-point Scale) 3
Two-Years Outcomes-Based Funding (3-point Scale) 3
Does the State Have a Credit Transfer Policy? true
Credit Transfer Policy (5-point Scale) 4
Innovation: Openness to Providers C
Numerical Openness to New Providers Grade 73%
Regulatory Jurisdiction 80%
Financial Burden 80%
Approval Process Burden 60%
Innovation: Online Learning A
Numerical Online Learning Grade 85.7
Online Learning Score (7-point Scale) 6

State Facts at a Glance

  • Number of Public Four-Year Institutions 14
  • Number of Public Two-Year Institutions 15
  • Number of Students Served by Public Four-Year Institutions 155079
  • Number of Students Served by Public Two-Year Institutions 82263
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