The best time to apply to in-state colleges with no undergraduate application fees is this Monday through Friday, thanks to Indiana’s annual College GO! Initiative, which partners with universities to waive the costs.
Indiana University Fort Wayne (with the code FWCOLLGO) and Indianapolis (with the code INCOLLGO) have waived their application fees, which were previously $65, for the week. IU East, Kokomo, Northwest, South Bend and Southeast have always had free applications.
Other colleges in Indiana that will offer free applications this week include Indiana State University (free until Oct. 1), University of Southern Indiana and Purdue University Fort Wayne (with code CollegeGo2024), and Martin University.
The following universities in Indiana always have free applications, according to Learn More Indiana:
- Anderson University
- Bethel University
- Calumet College of St. Joseph
- DePauw University
- Earlham College
- Franklin College
- Grace College
- Huntington University
- Indiana Tech
- Indiana Wesleyan University
- Manchester University
- Oakland City University
- Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
- Saint Mary's College
- Trine University
- University of Evansville
- University of Indianapolis
- University of Saint Francis
- Valparaiso University
- Wabash College
Find more application links here.
The College GO! Initiative is part of a national program, the American College Application Campaign, to help students with admissions and encourage more high school seniors to apply. Their website also includes resources, information and a scholarship in partnership with Indiana529 for prospective college students.
Indiana has not seen an increase in high school students enrolling in college since 2014, when enrollment was at 64.8%. The most recent numbers showed that only 52.8% of students chose to go to college in 2022. Indiana Commissioner for Education Chris Lowery said he believed low enrollment to be due to affordability.
The Indiana Commission for Higher Education has put forth several initiatives to try to bolster enrollment rates, includinga pre-admission program, which automatically pre-admits seniors into participating universities based on their GPA and SAT scores. State lawmakers also mandated in 2023 that high school seniors must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid unless exempt by a parent.
