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IN State of Higher Education address

Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers says it will take a joint effort from students, the state and its colleges and universities to meets the needs of a changing workforce.  She made the comment during the inaugural State of Higher Education address.

Currently, less than a third of Hoosiers have completed education beyond high school.  Lubbers says it will be hard to improve that figure when people don’t see an adequate return on investment from higher education.

“We have too few students who graduate and even fewer who graduate on time. We are producing too few degrees, especially in high-demand fields. And, we have too much student debt.”

Still, Lubbers says the value of a certificate or degree in a 21st century economy is too high to pass up.

“Four out of five of the jobs that were lost in the recent recession were held by individuals with a high school diploma or less, and many of those jobs are not coming back.”

The Commission for Higher Education has set a goal that, by 2025, 60% of the state’s adults will have completed some level of post-secondary education. Education and business leaders say achieving that goal will require greater collaboration. Nearly two-thirds of Indiana jobs in the next decade will require education beyond a high school diploma, anything from a trade certificate to a two year associate’s degree or four year bachelor’s degree. 

Former University of Indianapolis president Beverley Pitts says producing a greater degree output will require the state’s public and private higher education institutions to work together.

“Finding ways in which specific missions can match up with other missions; that what each institution does well it does and we don’t find ourselves, you know, maybe overbuilding the store, so to speak.”

Indiana Chamber of Commerce President Kevin Brinegar says the Hoosier business community also has to step up.

“Do a better job of communicating to the students and to the higher education institutions what their needs are, what the skills they need are, so that there is a greater awareness.”

Brinegar says talking to students and parents in high school about what’s necessary for a given field and what to expect in college can help students avoid having to change majors several times.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.
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