Typically, about 12,000 to 15,000 new 21st Century Scholar recipients enter college each year, according to bscholarship.com.
According to released State data, about 80 percent — or more than 14,000 students — are behind in meeting new requirements for the state’s 21st Century Scholars program in the state.
Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars program guarantees a student will receive up to four years of undergraduate tuition at any participating public college or university or award a comparable amount to that of a four-year public college to students who chose to go to a private institute in Indiana.
Due to poor college competition rates, lawmakers decided to kick start the Scholar Success Program, which now requires 21st century scholars to complete 12 tasks, including creating a graduation plan, visiting a college campus, getting a job and searching for other scholarships before high school graduation.
In addition to the 12 tasks, which were born out of legislation passed in 2011, lawmakers also 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.
The Class of 2017 will be the first group of students to go through the new program.
As of July 25, two months after announcing the new program, the percentage of students on track grew from 20 percent to 26 percent, according to ICHE.
While the percentage of those falling behind is worrisome, the state is working diligently to make members of the Class of 2017 aware of the new requirements by conducting meetings to connect with potential scholarship recipients, sending out emails and letters in the mail.
Students are also able to track their individual achievements in the Scholar Success Program through an online portal, which aims to increase students' independence, letting them update their progress at their own pace and on their own time.
Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers said it is important to understand the actual scholarship program in order to understand the benefits of the new requirements.
“The expectations were put in place to make sure that the students were not only receiving their money after graduation but that they were actually prepared to succeed once they get into college,” Lubbers said. “Keep in mind the scholarship was never designed simply as a scholarship program. It was designed to get kids inspired to go to college starting in middle school and then to use those years in high school to prepare them and then to provide the scholarship. It won't be because of these requirements that students won't go to college. I believe the likelihood that students will go to college will actually increase with this program because they are the right expectations. ”
Lubbers believes the new expectations are ones that all students should be working toward accomplishing even if they are not 21st century scholars.
“These are expectations that we have that, in fact, all students who plan to go to college should be thinking about themselves,” Lubbers said. “You should have a graduation plan, come up with some sort of career interest, visit a college campus. … We are convinced that these expectations that we have created are not in any way difficult to meet as a student.”
Self-advocacy is also important for scholars to develop throughout high school and college to be academically successful, she said.
“I think it is important for students to learn to be self-advocates, but I think that is not done at one point in time. It happens during a period of time, and it doesn’t always happen for the right student at the right time,” Lubbers said. “Understanding college and that culture may be easier for someone who comes from a family who actually has college experience and they can ask questions to. For first-generation students, that may be a heavier responsibility. It’s just important at some point for it to take place.”
However, she also believes the support throughout school, especially in college, is also important.
“I think the idea that when scholars get to campus we just cut them free and they sink or swim on their own is not really the best way to do it,” Lubbers said. “We don’t want them to be anonymous when they get there. We want them to be a part of learning communities, and we want them to have someone to see are they going to class — not hand holding, but at some point during that time in college, they become a stronger self-advocate and they are successful and graduate.”
Similar to high school, there are still requirements that scholars have to accomplish in order to continue receiving the 21st century scholarship, which includes filing out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) every year, maintaining at least a 2.5 GPA and completing at least 30 credits each academic year.
To help, the university offers multiple resources to 21st Century scholars.
“Ball State offers an application fee waiver, summer bridge programs, a ScholarCorps member on campus, and two Retention and Graduation Specialists [for 21st century scholars],” Dillon Wyatt, retention and graduation specialist, said. “We do make a special effort to contact and assist 21st Century Scholars.”
At this time, there are approximately 650 first-time freshmen who are 21st century scholars, according to Wyatt.
“The scholarship enables students to attend college. It pays for up to four years of tuition,” Wyatt said. “This has a huge impact on students, enabling them to gain a college education when that education may have been out of reach without the scholarship.”
The numbers may be low but “whenever you require a behavioral change, it takes some time for people to know about that” so Lubbers and the ICHE will continue working toward getting students to college and graduation.
“We will continue to double down on our efforts to help students,” she said.
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