Commission Looks To Improve College For Adult Learners

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is offering its recommendations for ways to help increase the state’s college completion rates for non-traditional adult students.

A recent study shows that for every student that goes to college part-time every semester, there is another with blended enrollment – attending fulltime whenever possible but dropping to part-time for certain semesters.

The Commission recommends colleges to create and guide students to academic structures that support continues fulltime enrollment or more structured part-time enrollment.

They also recommend aligning state and institutional services and resources to address non-academic challenges, such as financial needs, and also a redesign of part-time grants.

“We often over simplify how students are earning their post-secondary credentials, thinking of full-time students as recent high school graduates and part-time students as working adults. In fact, those lines are incredibly blurry,” said Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education, Teresa Lubbers.

The recommendations are designed to bring the state of Indiana closer to a 60 percent attainment rate by 2025.