Most 21st Century scholars not on track to receive state money

The vast majority of incoming high school seniors who could qualify for a state-funded scholarship are running the risk of losing out on the assistance that covers up to four years of college tuition, according to newly released state data.

About 80 percent, or more than 14,000 students, are behind on meeting new requirements for the state’s 21st Century Scholars program, which is designed to help low-income Hoosiers afford college. In Marion County alone, nearly 3,300 students aren’t on track.

Faced with a large number of students falling behind on the program’s mandates, state officials are working to make members of the Class of 2017 aware of the new requirements, including conducting meetings throughout the summer to connect with potential scholarship recipients.

Next year’s graduating class is the first group of students that must complete 12 tasks, including creating a graduation plan, visiting a college campus and participating in a service activity. In exchange, those students can receive as much as four years of tuition at an Indiana public university, or a comparable amount to what a public school costs to attend a private school.

The scholarships, which started under then-Gov. Evan Bayh, reward financial assistance to low-income students who meet certain academic requirements and stay out of trouble. Even before the newest round of conditions, state data showed on average about half of students who could qualify for a 21st Century scholarship were meeting requirements to receive the assistance.

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Lawmakers added new requirements after becoming concerned about poor college completion rates of the program’s students, said Sen. Luke Kenley, a Noblesville Republican. State data show lagging but improving graduation rates, with about 20 percent of scholarship recipients going on to complete college on time, according to an analysis of the 2014 graduating class. That’s up from about 15 percent of program participants who graduated on time in 2013.

The state established a “more rigorous program” to turn around student performance, said Kenley, the General Assembly’s leading budget architect.

“I’m not too surprised to see we’re still struggling with this,” Kenley said. “It’s going to take some time to turn this around.”

School officials who administer the program say they plan to work with their seniors to ensure they finish the activities and qualify for the scholarships. They expect that students have already completed many of the tasks but have yet to notify the state of their progress.

In meeting that goal, administrators are confronted with daunting statistics.

In Marion County, just 13 percent of incoming senior scholarship candidates are up to date on completing the requirements, data show. Only about half of those potential recipients have taken the first step in the process — registering with the state website ScholarTrack to log completed activities.

Decatur Township Schools officials are planning an immediate effort to help seniors who haven’t logged on to the state website once they return from summer break, said Chris Duzenbery, the district’s director of college and career readiness. The district's students cover most of the activities required by the 21st Century Scholar program through a course they already take in school, he said. But state data indicate just under 10 percent of potential Class of 2017 scholarship recipients from Decatur Central High School have completed all requirements for Grades 9-11.

“We have made a significant dent in being able to get these kids on track and get them caught up,” Duzenbery said. “I believe (the requirements) are appropriate because they all are aligned with college- and career-readiness skills and experiences students need to be able to have before they graduate.”

A counseling director for Indianapolis Public Schools said the district’s 21st Century Scholar students are completing the activities, but they do so with a program separate from the one created by the state.

“It helps us as a district continue to create opportunity for our students to have rigor, rigorous courses to make sure that not only are they completing them but are able to have a great retention rate when they do get to college,” said Tracy Pruitt, coordinator of student support services.

Typically, about 12,000 to 15,000 new 21st Century Scholar recipients enter college each year. But during the recession, the state saw as many as 30,000 students enter college qualifying for assistance — which caused its costs to skyrocket. The state budgeted $174 million for the past school year and nearly $160 million for the upcoming school year to cover the scholarships.

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Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers said the program was never designed to distribute financial aid to students at the end of their senior year “in hopes they would be successful in college.” The program’s aim is to make sure students succeed once they arrive on campus, she said.

The new requirements, which were born out of legislation passed in 2011, cap a string of changes to the program, in part to ensure that students are prepared for college and to rein in costs to the state. First, lawmakers raised the high school GPA to become eligible for the program to 2.5 from 2.0. Students also must complete at least 30 credit hours each school year — a course load the state considers full time — or receive a lesser scholarship amount.

Call IndyStar reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @IndyStarChelsea. 

Student progress

Here’s a sampling of where incoming seniors stand in completing required tasks for the 21st Century Scholars program. Data reflect the percentage of those students who are up to date in meeting the requirements:

Ben Davis High School: 4 percent

Broad Ripple High School: 7 percent

Decatur Central High School: 9 percent

Franklin Central High School: 27 percent

John Marshall Community High School: 5 percent

Lawrence Central High School: 5 percent

Lawrence North High School: 14 percent

North Central High School: 8 percent

Perry Meridian High School: 8 percent

Pike High School: 10 percent

Tech High School: 5 percent

Source: The Commission for Higher Education