INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s public colleges and universities are slated to increase tuition and fees over the biennium — up to 4.9% per year — despite pushback from some state lawmakers and budget officials.
Representatives from Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education (CHE) told the State Budget Committee last week that if tuition and fees must go up, the increase should be no greater than 3.5% each year.
Price hikes at six Indiana institutions will be at or below CHE’s target. Ivy Tech Community College is expected to increase its attendance costs by up to 5.9% by 2026, however.
CHE commissioner Chris Lowery emphasized that at Indiana’s public four-year colleges, in-state tuition and mandatory fee rates fell by an average of 2.1% annually over the last decade — the sixth-largest decline in the nation.
“Indiana’s public institutions have been doing a good job in keeping tuition and fees at a reasonable rate for consumers,” he said. “We have great institutions, and they’re holding the line on costs.
But Seth Hinshaw, associate commissioner for finance and operations, noted “just how dramatic the increase in inflation has been,” specifically in the last two years. State schools have seen a nearly 26% increase in inflation from 2013, Hinshaw said.
Lowery also indicated that Indiana’s already dismal college-going rate has declined by roughly another half-percent.
Data released last year showed that only half of Indiana’s 2020 high school graduates pursued some form of college education beyond high school. The drop marked the state’s lowest college-going rate in recent history, but the decline has been ongoing for the last five years.
Of those high school graduates who attend college, only two-thirds are on track to complete a degree.
“The fact of the matter is, the college-going rate for youth … it’s not improved,” Lowery said, adding that the adult-going rate has declined at almost the same rate. “It hasn’t declined as much … but while the improvements have been good, they’re just not good enough. We’re expecting to see improvements based on the actions that are being taken and have been taken in the past year.
See the full story here.
