Commission for Higher Education attempting to close achievement gap 2025

Less than one third of Indiana college students receive a degree in a four-year period, and a little more than half graduate in six years.

The Commission for Higher Education will strive to have 60 percent of adults in the state earn college degrees by 2025.

The commission announced a plan in which it will attempt to close the state’s achievement gap in college completion rates by 2025.

About one-third of Indiana residents overall have graduated from college.

This makes Indiana 40th in the nation.

Dividing the data by race reveals further achievement gaps.

Forty percent of white students, 35 percent of Hispanic students and 16 percent of black students complete college in four years, according to the news release.

“Indiana has a moral and economic imperative to dramatically increase the success rates of all Indiana college students,” Teresa Lubbers, Indiana commissioner for higher education, said in the release. “Far too many students start college and never finish, and we cannot afford to leave another generation of Hoosiers behind.”

The commission encouraged students to remain conscientious of class schedules and graduation requirements.

Colleges might be eligible to receive rewards for assisting “at-risk” students in helping them earn degrees in a timely manner and also for general increases in the number of students receiving degrees.

— Sydney Murray