More students are graduating from Indiana colleges than ever before.
That’s according to the 2018 College Completion Report released July 16 by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Additionally, on-time college completion rates are improving across all four and two-year public campuses statewide, and extended graduation rates are increasing at most Indiana public campuses.
“It is encouraging to see Indiana’s significant progress in moving the needle on college completion,” said Teresa Lubbers, Indiana commissioner of Higher Education. “These successes are a direct reflection of the hard work happening at public campuses across the state, as well as the support of the general assembly.”
At least 38.5 percent of all Indiana college students graduate on time – an increase of 13.9 percentage points over the past five years and 4 percentage points in one year, the state said. A total of 59.2 percent of Indiana college students graduate within an extended time frame – an increase of 2.8 percentage points in five years and 5 percentage points in one year.
The report said 45 percent of all Indiana students who attend a public four-year campus graduate on time — an improvement of 10.9 percentage points over the past five years. Additionally, 68 percent of all students who attended a public four-year campus graduate within the extended time frame.
Indiana’s two-year campuses also are seeing improvement in on-time graduation rates. Overall, 12.7 percent of students are graduating within four years – an improvement of 9 percentage points over the past five years. In addition, 32.2 percent of students at two-year campuses are graduating within six years.
The public campuses with the overall highest on-time completion are Indiana University Bloomington (on-time: 66.7 percent; extended: 83.8 percent), Purdue West Lafayette (on-time: 58.9 percent; extended: 84.2 percent), and Ball State University (on-time: 52.8 percent; extended: 73.9 percent).
Within the past year, campuses that experienced the most improvement in on-time graduation rates are Purdue University Northwest, Ball State University, Indiana University South Bend, Indiana University East, and University of Southern Indiana.
On-time graduation rates for 21st Century Scholars are improving at a greater rate than all other student populations, the state said. The improvement can be attributed to the state financial aid reform enacted by Indiana lawmakers in 2013, which required students to complete at least 30 credit hours each calendar year to stay on track for on-time graduation.
Since then, the on-time graduation rate for century scholars has improved by 13.8 percentage points, the state said.
Later this summer, the state will release a supplemental report providing data on the performance of Indiana’s minority students.
