INDIANAPOLIS – 70-thousand Hoosier students receive state financial aid to go to college. The state’s been doing more to make sure they come out with a degree.

Then-Governor Evan Bayh created the scholarship now named for him, which guarantees low-income students tuition if they maintain a B-minus average in high school and stay drug-free. Allison Leeuw with the Legislative Services Agency says the focus then was on making sure everyone had access to college. Now, the state is more focused on graduation rates, and Leeuw says the state has started working with Bayh scholars starting in middle school. Students see instructional videos on college planning, and fill out plans for what they want to do after college.

The “Scholar Success” program began with the Class of ’17, too recently to assess how it’s working. But Leeuw says the approach has worked elsewhere.

College graduation rates generally have been increasing. About two-thirds of the students in the state’s other big financial aid program are graduating, though nearly one in four need more than four years.

 

Photo by Chichi Onyekanne on Unsplash