The budget which senators will vote on this week singles out two Indiana colleges for an in-depth review.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley‘s budget calls on the Commission for Higher Education to look into Ivy Tech‘s low degree completion rates.
Just four-percent of Ivy Tech students earn their degree on time – and only 28% manage it within six years.
Both figures are the lowest of any state institution in Indiana.
Kenley says he‘s visited several Ivy Tech campuses and met with the college‘s administrators, and says no one‘s sure why Ivy Tech graduation rates are so low, even compared to other community colleges.
"Ivy Tech has a poor performance rate on graduation in a lot of areas," says Kenley. "We think we need to have a review by the Commission for Higher Education from a higher level to determine if all their course offerings should be there or if there should be modifications in how they present their programming."
Kenley also wants a review of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
He notes northeast Indiana is growing, and questions whether IPFW is keeping up with that growth.