Increase access to and persistence through postsecondary education
Problem Statement
- Too few Black students successfully enroll in college. This is driven in part by low completion of Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms, without which students can’t qualify for either state or federal financial aid, and Indiana’s general lack of a college-going culture, which discourages students from applying to college.
- Too few employees take advantage of employer tuition assistance benefits to earn additional degrees or credentials, in part driven by policies requiring expense reimbursement upon completion of training. This can serve as a barrier for low-to-middle-income employees. In addition, not every employer offers a tuition assistance benefit program.
Action Steps
- Help defray the cost of post-secondary education for students and adults from lower-income households by:
- Raising awareness of the importance of FAFSA completion, through:
- Amplification of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education’s annual FAFSA completion campaigns through employer social media channels and internal employee communications.
- Providing financial literacy and other support to encourage FAFSA completion by disseminating the free FAFSA toolkit created by INvestEd, an Indiana nonprofit.
- Raising awareness of the importance of FAFSA completion, through:
- To support the upskilling of the existing workforce, employers should:
- Establish an employee tuition assistance benefit program that supports the efforts of employees to earn additional postsecondary degrees andcredentials.
- To lower barriers to access, ensure tuition assistance benefit programs are structured to provide funding on an upfront basis (versus reimbursed upon completion). Model employer programs include those offered by The Cook Group.