1 / 22

Promoting Degree Completion Through Financial Incentives

This article discusses the importance of increasing degree completion rates in Indiana and proposes various financial incentives to encourage students to complete their degrees. The article also explores economic development incentives and the use of stimulus funding.

carolynlee
Download Presentation

Promoting Degree Completion Through Financial Incentives

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Promoting Degree Completion Through Financial Incentives Teresa Lubbers, Commissioner November 9, 2009

  2. Choices Fund Colleges to do the same things Expect to get the same results OR Fund Colleges to move in new directions Expect to get new results

  3. Results

  4. Results 14.3% of students graduate with a two-year degree within three years.

  5. Reaching Higher with College Completion

  6. Indiana Cannot Compete Under the Status Quo

  7. Indiana needs the equivalent of an additional 10,000 Bachelor’s degrees per year through 2025 The Lumina Foundation’s “Big Goal” indicates that 60% of the nation’s population should have a postsecondary credential by 2025 for the United States to remain economically competitive.

  8. Indiana needs to increase its Associate Degree and Certificate Production by 50% by 2015

  9. Budgeting Policy Changes • CHE Budget Recommendations are an outgrowth of Reaching Higher, CHE’s strategic plan for Indiana’s system of higher education • Restructure higher education state appropriations to focus on degree and course completion rather than enrollment growth and inflationary increases. • Number of credit/course completions • Number of degrees conferred • On-time graduation rates • Number of credits transferred from the community colleges to the four-year institutions • Premium for low-income students • Substantially eliminate all remedial courses at Indiana’s public four-year colleges and universities.

  10. College Completion Incentives • Enrollment Completion Incentive: Transitioning from counting the credit hours of students enrolled in courses at the beginning of a semester, to counting the credit hours for courses successfully completed by students at the end of the semester. • Change in Degrees Incentive: Provides funding to institutions that increase the number of baccalaureate or associate degrees they produce year over year. • Time to Degree Incentive: Provides funding to an institution that increases the on-time graduation rate. On-time graduation means within 4 years for a baccalaureate degree and within 2 years for an associate degree. • Low Income Degree Incentive: Provides additional funding to an institution that increases the number of degrees awarded to low income students (low income is defined by having received a federal Pell grant). • Transfer Incentive: provides additional funds to a 4 year institution that accepts credit hours transferred from Ivy Tech Community College or Vincennes University.

  11. Economic Development Incentives • Research Funding Incentive: Provides matching funds to Indiana’s major research universities for increases in science and engineering research expenditures funded by the federal government. • Non-Credit Workforce Development Activity: CHE is examining a formula to reward Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University for training and instruction activities that develop Indiana’s workforce, but does not to lead a college degree

  12. 2009-11 Budget Results • College Completion Incentives were utilized in the budget • Phased-in approach • Change in Total Degrees: Funded 50% in FY10 and 75% in FY11 • Grants instititutions $5,000 for baccalaureate, $3,500 for associate • Change in On-Time Degrees: Funded 50% in FY10 and 75% in FY11 • Change in the 4-year or 2-year graduation rate for cohorts • Grants institutions $5,000 for baccalaureate, $3,500 for associate

  13. 2009-11 Budget Results • Change in degrees awarded to Low-Income students (Pell): Funded 50% in FY10 and 75% in FY11 • Grants institutions $5,000 for baccalaureate, $3,500 for associate • 2-Year Transfer Incentive: Funded 50% in FY10 and 75% in FY11 • Grants $875 per FTE for credit hours transferred to a 4-year campus from ITCC or VU

  14. 2009-11 Budget Results • Enrollment Completion: Funded 50% in FY10 and 75% in FY11 • Phasing in the transition from counting “attempted” credit hours to “successfully completed” credit hours • Phase in is 90%/10% in FY10 and 75%/25% in FY11, with full transition occurring at the end of the next biennium

  15. 2009-11 Budget Results • Economic Development Incentives • Non-Credit Instruction Incentive: Funded 50% in FY10 and 75% in FY11 • Incentivizes ITCC and VU to expand non-credit workforce instruction activity • Research Support Formula not funded, but the Indiana Innovation Alliance funded $10M in each year of the biennium for: • Core Research: $5M • Medical Education Center Expansion: $3M • Technical Assistance Program (TAP): $2M

  16. Stimulus Funding • Overall cuts to higher education below FY09 levels were restored using ARRA funds • BUT ARRA funds must be used in FY10 for one-time expenditures, including Renovations and Rehabilitation and Deferred Maintenance

  17. What’s next? • Ongoing exploration and refinement of performance incentives • Mission differentiation • Deeper cuts into base • New formulas based on successful models • Washington State “Momentum Points”

  18. Indiana’s Twenty-first Century Scholars Program • Developed in 1999 to reduce the high school dropout rate and raise the educational aspirations of low- and moderate-income Hoosiers. • Taking the Pledge… Students sign an agreement to: • Stay in School and earn a diploma with at least a 2.0 GPA • Stay out of trouble • Apply for state financial aid on time • Apply to an eligible Indiana college • Provides students with enhanced mentoring and support opportunities in high school. • Provides students with grant to cover tuition and mandatory fees at any Indiana public college or university (or a similar amount at a private college)

  19. 21st Century Scholars Scholars are more likely to complete high school than their peers • 60.3% of Scholars are first-generation college students (compared to 43.6% of all FAFSA filers) • 54.5% are from single-parent families (compared to 30.2% of all FAFSA filers. • Come from families with an average family income of $25,842, compared with an average family income of $62,178 for all FAFSA filers.

  20. 21st Century Scholars Scholars are more likely to go to college than their peers Scholars are also more likely than their low-income peers to attend a 4-year college, and in particular, a 4-year research institution, indicating that Scholars are likely increasing their college aspirations and meeting more rigorous admissions requirements as a result of the program.

  21. 21st Century Scholars Scholars are more likely to complete college than their low-income peers at both 4-year and 2-year institutions. However, Scholar completion still lags behind that of all students.

  22. www.che.in.gov

More Related