LOCAL 21st Century Scholars

The 2020 College Equity Report is the third iteration of the report and includes policy recommendations designed to make progress toward closing achievement gaps. Results of the report show:

• Race and ethnicity: Black and Hispanic/latino Hoosiers are less likely than the statewide average to earn early college credit (dual credit or Advanced Placement), enroll in postsecondary programs and complete college on-time at two- and four-year public institutions in Indiana.

• Socioeconomic Status: Poverty has a direct impact on college-going rates. Only 38% of low-income high school graduates go to college. This is lower than the statewide college-going average of 61% as well as college-going rates for higher-income graduates (68%) and low-income peers who are part of the state’s 21st Century Scholars program (86%).

• Gender: Women are more likely to go to college than men (67% of women versus 55% of men), and the gender disparity tracks among all races and ethnicities.

• Rural v. Non-rural: The 21st Century Scholars program closes the college-going gap for rural students, as 85% of rural Scholars go to college and 86% of non-rural Scholars go to college. This compares to the college-going rates of non-scholar low-income peers (31% rural and 39% non-rural) and higher-income peers (63% rural and 69% non-rural).

“These outcomes demonstrate why it is critical for the state of Indiana to focus on equity and student success for all Hoosiers,” Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers said. “We cannot reach Indiana’s 2025 goal of at least 60% of Hoosiers with quality education and training beyond high school without closing the state’s educational achievement and opportunity gaps.”

Equity is one of three priorities outlined in the Commission’s fourth strategic plan, Reaching Higher in a State of Change, which was released early in 2020. COVID-19 has increased the economic pressures on certain Hoosiers, specifically low-income, Black and Hispanic/latino Hoosiers as well as those with lower levels of educational attainment.

“Education can be a great equalizer, but it can also be the divider,” said Lubbers. “The recent economic impacts of COVID-19 have further exposed the reality that economic outcomes are linked to educational attainment, and Hoosiers with fewer opportunities due to social stratification or a lack of access to affordable higher education options have fared far worse.”

21st Century Scholars is closing gaps

The new report also shows the state’s early college promise program is effective at closing the achievement

gaps. Hoosier students who graduate as 21st Century Scholars go to college 25 percentage points above the statewide college- going average (86% and 61%, respectively) and are the only students on track to close achievement gaps by 2025.

The scholarship program pays for up to four years of tuition at a participating Indiana college for income-eligible Hoosiers who have met educational benchmarks and other requirements to earn and use the scholarship. The state is celebrating 30 years of the program in 2020 and more than 40,000 Hoosiers have earned a degree with the scholarship.

New data and recommendations

The 2020 College Equity Report also includes data on educational attainment and the workforce, broken out by race and ethnicity, including enrollment in the state’s Next Level Jobs Workforce Ready Grant. Findings show, for example, that a disproportionately large%age of Black Hoosiers and men enroll in the Workforce Ready Grant, which covers the cost of high- demand certificates in Indiana.

Also of note, less than 15% of students preparing for teaching careers are non-white. Science, technology, engineering, math ( STEM) and health care fields are slightly more diverse; just over one-quarter of Hoosier graduates in those fields are non-white.

“We must encourage more minority students to consider teaching as a career. Research shows students of color are more successful in their education journey when they have the opportunity to be in the classroom with a teacher of color,” said Lubbers. “Indiana has scholarships and stipends for teaching students who are Black and Hispanic/latino. Growing the awareness of these existing programs is one goal of the Commission to make real progress for educational equity.”

Other recommendations included in the 2020 College Equity Report are aligned to the Commission’s strategic plan, such as improving outreach and awareness of the state’s financial aid programs among students of color, calling for sustained and adequate funding for dual credit, breaking out data by race and ethnicity whenever possible and increasing diversity in the teaching profession.

Data in the 2020 College Equity Report primarily come from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, Independent Colleges of Indiana, Indiana Department of Education, National Student Clearinghouse, United States Census Bureau and Lumina Foundation.

Read the full report at che. in. gov/ equity and all of the Commission’s reports at che.in.gov/reports. Explore resources available to help students plan, prepare and pay for college at www. Learnmoreindiana. org.