Fewer grads enrolling in college
Statewide, 59% of class of 19 in post-high school education
ASHLEY SLOBODA | The Journal Gazette
A troubling trend in Indiana has worsened.
After years of steady declines, the percentage of college-bound high school graduates plunged to its lowest point in more than a decade. Of the 2019 graduates, 59% enrolled in education after high school, down from 61% the previous year, according to a recent report by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
The college-going rate has been steadily declining since 2015, when it was 65%, the agency said, “but this is the largest drop year-to-year.”
The commission expects the decline will continue in the 2022 Indiana College Readiness Report considering fall 2020 enrollment for two- and four-year public colleges dropped by 13% and 4%, respectively.
Mar 2, 2021 | Features
by TRACY ZOLLINGER TURNER
Maqubè Reese’s first name was created by her mother a combination of the names of her four aunts. “I feel like I embody all of them,” she says. “I absolutely love my name. I feel like I live it every day.”
As she gets ready to enter her 30s in 2021, that wellspring of family appears to fuel a very busy life. Reese works as the assistant director of diversity initiatives for the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and is engaged in an abundance of community work. She recently completed a term with the City of Bloomington’s Commission on the Status of Women and chaired the City’s Black History Month Committee. She currently serves on the City’s Board of Public Safety, is the vice president of the Monroe County Branch of the NAACP, and is involved with Count Us In Indiana, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging diverse voter turnout.
Indiana News Connection
New data show a big drop of just over 9% in the number of Indiana students applying for federal student aid this year, and experts say that could mean a big red flag for college enrollment.
They found application rates are even worse for students of color or in lower-income families.
MorraLee Keller, director of technical assistance for the Network, said Indiana colleges could be looking at much smaller freshman classes. If the FAFSAs are already running just under 10% behind, and FAFSAs are a very strong indicator about the likelihood to enroll in college, we may be getting set up for another significant drop in college enrollment this fall, Keller projected.
Fewer Student Aid Applications Could Mean Less College Enrollment / Public News Service publicnewsservice.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from publicnewsservice.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rodney Pol said seeing how the administration and the city pulled together in such an unprecedented time with an absolute tenacity to work was inspiring.