Today on higher education week on our blog, we feature guest posts from Purdue University President France Córdova. She answers:

• What is the No. 1 change you would like to see in Indiana’s higher education system that would help serve students better?

Indiana is blessed with a rich array of opportunities in higher education. Students can attend community or regional colleges near their home, outstanding private four-year institutions, or world-class public research universities. The choice depends on their career plans, financial means, academic preparation and personal preference.

In spite of the choices, I’m hearing some common challenges that prospective students face when it comes to higher education: (1) the admissions and financial aid processes can be daunting, especially for those who are the first in their families to attend college; (2) students often do not know which college or university, or course of study, can best help them reach their educational and career goals; and (3) for a variety of reasons many students do not pursue their degree aggressively and fail to stay in college to degree completion.

At Purdue, we’re helping to answer these challenges in several ways:

• We are employing more transparent online financial aid tools for students and their families. Also, we have launched a campaign to raise more scholarship funds for students who have demonstrable need for financial assistance, as well as for those who apply themselves in the classroom and show leadership potential.
• To help students with college preparation and course selection, we are investigating the benefits of a campus-wide core curriculum, and we are working to simplify the transfer of courses among institutions, including from Ivy Tech to Purdue. Our regional campuses are looking at increased efficiencies in common credit transfer processes and shared resources, including a shared core curriculum to ease transfer among the campuses. Purdue’s campuses are working together to help power economic development across northern Indiana and everyone in the area will benefit.
• Once a student enrolls with us, we work hard to help that student succeed. We have a large number of novel retention practices at our campuses, making use of experiential learning, information technology and social media.

We also encourage our students to be entrepreneurial through certification programs and through internships in our technology parks, Indiana companies and nonprofits; these learning experiences help the state keep more graduating students. 

The higher education section in the current BizVoice features the in-depth look at increased regional cooperating taking place in Columbus and Richmond, as well as the growth occuring in for-profit or proprietary institutions.

On a bit of the lighter side, we compiled three interesting items into what we call a briefs package. The subjects: Signals for student success at Purdue, an update on the Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowships and an entrepreneurial effort in Anderson — Global Student Solutions — to make life easier for international collegians.

They’re quick, interesting, reads. Let us know about other initiatives we might profile in the future or share your story in this space via the comments section.

In his second guest post, Ivy Tech President Tom Snyder tackles the following topic:

• Tell us something that not enough people know about your college or university that makes it such a special place.

Much has been written about our growth as we are the nation’s largest singly-accredited statewide community college system. But we are also the state’s largest provider of workforce training. We offer contract and short-term training to companies throughout Indiana. 
 
In many cases short-term training is what many displaced workers look to during times of a career change. We have put rapid response teams in motion in various parts of the state to provide workforce training for those who need support during those difficult times.
 
In closing, I think it is worth sharing some numbers that paint the picture of our student body:

• Average age of 27.5
• 25% married
• 18% minorities
• 39% have children (roughly 14% single parents)
• 60% of first-time, degree-seeking students receive financial aid
• 9,726 on food stamps
• 74% work (37% work more than 30 hours/week)
• 66% attend part-time
• 39% are first generation college students
• After six years over 40 percent of our students graduate, transfer or are still enrolled
• School of first choice for many. 10% of recent Hamilton Country grads went to Ivy Tech

Tomorrow: Purdue’s France Córdova

Higher education week on our blog continues as Ivy Tech President Tom Snyder answers the following question:

• What is the No. 1 change you would like to see in Indiana’s higher education system that would help serve students better? 

I do not believe it would be accurate to say that I would want to see something change in Indiana’s higher education. Instead I would like to use the word “continue.” I hope to continue to see all stakeholders stay dedicated to the development of a statewide community college. 
 
This includes continued funding of Ivy Tech to assist us in handling the tremendous growth we have experienced. We are dedicated to ensuring the success of our students as is evidenced by our Accelerating Greatness strategic plan. We must continue to allocate resources toward our efforts in remediation and retention to get the over 150,000 students we serve a year to achieve their educational goals. 
 
We must continue to develop a seamless higher education system that makes the transfer of credits from Ivy Tech to our four-year partners easily understandable for our students. Our four-year partners have been just that, true partners in this endeavor and we look forward to continuing to work with colleges and universities around the state.
 
Finally as we look at our students and how we define success we need to consider other measures than just the IPEDS three-year cohort which looks at first-time, full-time students which is a small percentage of our student body. This is just one measure and ignores the fact that, in this group, more of our students transfer than stay to graduate. We are developing more comprehensive measures that Indiana citizens can use to assess student success.

Each day this week public university presidents are sharing their insights as guest bloggers in this space. Private colleges and universities play a critical role in communities across the state. But what about for-profit or proprietary institutions?

There are more than 200 operating in Indiana (I had no idea until reading colleague Candace Gwaltney’s story in the current BizVoice). You’ve heard some of the names: University of Phoenix, ITT Technical Institute. Harrison College and more. Others carry a far lower profile.

What needs do they meet? How do they do it? Are they competitors of the traditional higher ed providers (we tried to answer that, but most who were asked declined to tackle that one)? A national expert from Penn State University provides some interesting analysis.

And we provide a sidebar story on what separates Franklin College from Franklin University. Again, check it out here, and come back later today for comments from Ivy Tech Community College President Tom Snyder.

In her second guest post, Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora offers her insights on the following topic:

• Tell us something that not enough people know about your college or university that makes it such a special place.

While many Indiana citizens and others around the country know that Ball State is redefining education through immersive learning, they often are unaware of the breadth and intensity of those experiences.

Immersive learning is a more focused and intense form of experiential learning, as interdisciplinary teams of students work with a faculty mentor to provide real-world solutions for real-world problems faced by businesses, nonprofit organizations, and communities across Indiana and literally around the world. These projects hone our students’ skills in innovation and collaboration and help them to turn knowledge into judgment and judgment into action.

In the last two years, more than 5,300 Ball State students from 38 academic departments and all seven of our colleges completed 285 immersive learning projects in 69 Indiana counties. Those students have helped to open an arts industry incubator in Brown County, conducted the annual perch count on Lake Michigan, and developed the I-69 Culinary Trail for nine counties stretching from Indianapolis to the Michigan state line. They have written an 18-week nutrition and wellness curriculum with our partners at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent and Marsh Supermarkets that is now being used by nearly 250 elementary schools in 60 counties. And they have written a crisis communication protocol for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security that affects every county in our state.

The reach of our immersive learning experiences is tremendous. Two of the students involved in the Culinary Trail project are from China, learning about Hoosier culture (and cuisine) as well as marketing and communication.  And a group of Ball State students, mostly from Indiana, spent 10 weeks in China, just outside Hong Kong, working with one of the leading toy manufacturers in the world on a Six Sigma initiative.  This spring, 40 students from our College of Architecture and Planning are visiting 56 cities in 23 countries and applying these new cultural and architectural perspectives to design projects in their own hometowns.

Bringing bright students together with talented faculty in immersive learning projects creates a unique educational experience, one that defines Ball State.

Tomorrow: Ivy Tech’s Tom Snyder

Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora offers her insights on the following question:

• What is the number one change you would like to see in Indiana’s higher education system that would help serve students better?

Indiana has a strong system of higher education, with a well-balanced set of educational options that meet a wide range of needs. Hoosier families need to know what it takes, both academically and financially, to take full advantage of these opportunities.

For Indiana to contribute to the nation’s economic recovery, we need to produce high-ability graduates who can make an immediate impact upon earning their college degrees. The trend of colleges and universities increasing admission standards will continue, so students must commit themselves—beginning their first semester in high school—and earn an Academic Honors Diploma.

By increasing admission standards at Ball State, we are attracting brighter students. Through our emphasis on immersive learning, these students see the connection between rigorous academic course work and applying it to benefit Indiana companies and communities. Through those deep relationships, our students stay in college, earn their degrees, and, in many cases, flourish in the companies and communities that they connected with at Ball State.

The job market in the 21st century is changing, and having a college degree is necessary to compete. For some time, one of the most compelling arguments has been the comparison of lifetime salaries. On average, career earnings for those who hold a college degree are about $1 million more than those who have only a high school diploma. 

This disparity will become even more striking as we continue to adapt to global competition. Jobs that require only a high school diploma will continue to evaporate. I’d like to see more communication about the inextricable link between higher education and a sustainable livelihood today and in the future.

Families should view higher education as an investment and seek financial advice from the best sources. A recent study indicated that more than half of Hoosier families overestimate the cost of college. Parents should review not only the costs but also the scholarships and aid that are available. I think most families will see higher education not only as accessible but also as a sound financial choice.