Less than 52% of Indiana high school graduates enrolled in college in 2023 — the lowest rate on record, according to new state data. The drop continues a yearslong trend that could have long-term consequences for the state’s workforce and economy.
The trend could eventually lead to lower incomes for young people who skip higher education and a shortage of educated workers in a state where the number of residents with bachelor's degrees is among the lowest in the nation.
The college-going rate is down across the country amid increasing skepticism about four-year college degrees.
In Indiana, the rate fell about 1 percentage point in 2023. It’s the lowest it’s been since at least 2008, which is the earliest year published on the Indiana Commission for Higher Education dashboard. College enrollment has inched lower for every cohort since the high school class of 2016.
In a statement, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education noted that the latest college-going data is based on the class of 2023 and does not reflect more recent state initiatives to boost college going. Those include a new law to automatically enroll qualified students in the state’s 21st Century Scholars program and an increase in Frank O’Bannon Grant funding, which provides need-based financial aid.
“The Commission's new data strategy uses leading indicators such as current enrollment data to gauge our progress,” according to the statement. “This data shows the public institution enrollment rate for the 2024-2025 academic year increased by two percent from the previous year for the second year in a row and private institutions also saw a three percent bump in enrollment.”
In a press release Wednesday, Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) blamed the state’s Republican leadership for undermining higher education. He pointed to the elimination of degree options at public colleges, the state overhaul of high school diploma requirements and restrictions on what college professors teach.
“The supermajority has made attacking colleges and universities the centerpiece of their culture war agenda,” DeLaney said. “Republican leaders have been devaluing the opportunities that our colleges and universities can offer students.”
The Indiana Commission for Higher Education has been trying to understand and reverse the decline in college enrollment. Earlier this year, the Commission released the results of a study into why teens and adults are skipping college, and what the state can do to boost enrollment.
It included a survey of young people and their families who reported the cost of higher education as the top barrier to enrollment. But researchers said Indiana families vastly overestimated the cost of public higher education.
Another top concern cited by students and families was uncertainty about what career path to follow.
Despite these perceptions, national data show that a college degree still pays off. Workers with bachelor’s degrees earn a median of about $80,000 per year, nearly $32,000 higher than those with only a high school diploma, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Contact WFYI education reporter Dylan Peers McCoy at dmccoy@wfyi.org.