The Indiana Commission for Higher Education says a college mentoring program developed with the support of USA Funds led to impressive improvements in the numbers of students staying on-track for college completion. Launched in 2014 at 25 campuses of Indiana State University, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Ivy Tech Community College, the coaching initiative targeted students in Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars program—a state-funded, needs-based scholarship program that provides up to four years of full tuition scholarships to qualifying low-income students. The Scholar Coaching Initiative served more than 2,100 low-income students in its first year.
More than 62 percent of coached freshmen Scholars at Indiana State University were retained to their second year—a 3.8 percentage point increase over the school’s three-year historical average. At Ivy Tech Community College, the boost in retention was even greater: 45.7 percent of coached freshmen Scholars were retained to their second year—an 8.8 percentage point increase above its three-year historical average. At IUPUI, 61 of 100 freshman Scholars were retained to their second year. Currently in its second year, the project has been expanded to include Scholars at Indiana University East and Indiana University Kokomo. This week, the Commission will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 21st Century Scholars program, at the inaugural Student Advocates Conference on December 2 and 3.
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