Indianapolis makes a ‘promise’ of free college for some students

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett unveiled a broad plan Tuesday designed to make college more accessible to the residents of the city — and help meet the growing demand for high-skilled workers.

The initiative, called Indy Achieves, will include scholarships for Marion County graduates to attend local colleges, grants for college students in danger of not being able to pay tuition, and a new focus on working with school districts to ensure students take advantage of existing scholarship money.

The program is relatively modest. If the City-County Council approves the mayor’s budget, Indianapolis will spend about $2 million per year on Indy Achieves. The program will also receive fees from university partners, and, potentially, support from corporations and foundations. Over the first five years, Indy Achieves is expected to give grants and scholarships to about 5,000 students and help about 90,000 more tap into existing financial aid.

But despite the limited nature of Indy Achieves, Hogsett described the program in sweeping terms during its unveiling before an auditorium of students at the Chapel Hill 7th and 8th Grade Center in Wayne Township.

“For every single one of you in this room, college is a destination not a dream,” he said. “The city of Indianapolis, your city, is committed to helping you along that journey.”

Indy Achieves grew out of a commitment Hogsett made last year that every high school graduate in Indianapolis would have access to college or other training. At the time, he called it the Indianapolis Promise, a reference to the Kalamazoo Promise, which offers extensive scholarships to graduates of public schools in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

But after a year of work, the Indianapolis Promise Task Force is recommending a plan that both provides small scholarships to students and tackles a more expansive list of priorities. In addition to helping high school students afford college, it gives current college students funding to complete their degrees and it aims to coordinate efforts across Marion County to increase the number of adults with the qualifications that employers are seeking.

In part, that’s because the mayor’s office realized that helping high school students go to college won’t be enough to meet the demand for educated workers in Indianapolis. As more and more jobs require college degrees or other credentials, the city needs about 215,000 more adults with job-ready credentials to fill those positions, according to the report from the Promise Task Force.

The program does include a limited scholarship, which helps students who already receive money from other state scholarships pay for the costs that are not covered. Beginning in 2019, students will be eligible if they receive 21st Century Scholarships or Higher Education Awards, which are both scholarships available to students from income eligible families. The new Indy Promise scholarship will pay for tuition, books, and fees not covered by those other scholarships.

Students must attend Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis or Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis to receive the scholarships. The Indy Promise scholarships are expected to be relatively small, but education leaders say that for students from low-income families, even a little bit of money can make a big difference.

“While to some $500, $1,000 may not seem like much, for others it’s that hurdle that they need just to get over that expense and not incur additional debt,” said Jeff Butts, the superintendent in Wayne Township.

Over the long term, Butts said he hopes the program will expand to offer more generous scholarships for students. “We see this as a first step,” he said.

The plan also includes a coordinated effort to increase the number of students in Indianapolis who meet the criteria for 21st Century Scholarships and complete federal financial aid applications. That would help students access significant financial aid that they often miss out on because they don’t meet simple requirements.

In addition to traditional scholarships, the program will also offer completion grants to help current college students who are not able to afford tuition. Those grants are expected to get the bulk of the money, about $1 million each year. Ivy Tech and IUPUI will pay fees to Indy Achieve for keeping students enrolled, which will also help fund the program.

Ivy Tech Indianapolis Chancellor Kathleen Lee said the college already offers help to students who don’t have the money to finish their degrees, but many people don’t realize it is available.

“We do forgive all the time, but students don’t always know that,” Lee said. “It brings a spotlight on the topic so that they know that they should raise their hands and ask for help.”