We are producing more four-year and graduate degrees than any other institution in Indiana. With our strong enrollment numbers (IU began the current academic year with more than 114,000 students), we will continue to be—by far—the largest producer of Hoosier graduates annually in Indiana for the foreseeable future.

Under the state’s performance funding formula, when considering all four-year institutions, IU produced nearly 50 percent of the bachelor degrees under the degree production metric, almost 64 percent of the degrees under the at-risk student degree metric and nearly 80 percent of the bachelor degrees under the high-impact degree metric.

Still, we recognize that more work needs to be done. State leaders—from our new governor to the legislature to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education—have made it clear that we must all continue to work together toward ensuring an affordable and clear path to college completion; producing more Hoosier graduates; helping to build a workforce that meets Indiana’s development economic needs; strengthening our state’s culture of innovation and entrepreneurship; and encouraging lifelong learning.

Furthermore, while there is reason for cautious optimism in this legislative session, we still have a responsibility to prepare our budget for the next two years in a manner that assumes conservative funding growth—both in terms of state funding and from tuition.

In recent years, we have become more efficient in our operations, and that work is ongoing. At the same time, we intend to present a tuition recommendation to IU trustees this spring that recognizes the financial challenges facing many of our students and their families today.

Providing pathways to student success

We have taken a proactive and strategic approach to ensuring that our students graduate on time, with as little debt as possible.

In my last President’s Update, I shared the methods we have used to keep IU’s tuition levels at historically low levels—including freezing tuition for the last two years for students at IU Bloomington—while at the same time pioneering path-breaking student financial literacy programs that are now national models and have resulted in savings to students of nearly $100 million over the last four years. A recent article, which prominently features IU’s MoneySmarts program, ran in GoodCall, a popular online educational news site that helps students and their families make smart financial decisions for college and careers.

As encouraged by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, IU began implementing banded, or flat-rate, tuition in the fall at all of its campuses. All undergraduate students now pay one rate for basic tuition when taking 12 to 18 credit hours.

Banded tuition—which has been in effect on the IU Bloomington campus for more than two decades—makes the cost of attending IU more predictable and easier to understand, while helping students and their families plan better financially. It also gives students a clearer and quicker path to graduation. It allows them to take more credit hours each semester and not be charged an additional amount; explore an area of academic interest without having to worry about additional costs from enrolling in a course; and, ultimately, move into the job market sooner, possibly earning a year or two of additional income over the span of their careers.

Of course, we recognize that even the smartest planners and self-motivators frequently need support and guidance. That is why we have continued to strengthen our academic and career advising. Currently, all of our campuses now employ pervasive academic advising of students, supported by the IU Graduation Progress System, including degree mapping, early alerts, degree audits, and analytics. All of this is helping to increase graduation rates and reduce the time to degree completion.

Building a better future

Another key to ensuring our students’ success is placing them in the best possible environment in which to learn and grow.

In addition to the operating funding that will be determined by IU’s achievements on the performance metrics created by the state, IU has requested additional capital funding during this year’s budget session, with the goal of improving the facilities and physical infrastructure we need to meet the evolving needs of our students.

Our capital priorities continue to be centered on major renovation of existing legacy buildings on all campuses. Through renovation, we are able to modernize existing buildings for today’s use, improve their energy efficiency and extend their useful lives for future generations of students and faculty, all at significantly less cost that constructing a new facility. We also intend to expand research and laboratory facilities as needed, as our world-class community of scholars continues to secure increased levels of research funding.

As always, IU’s top capital priority is Repair and Rehabilitation funds provided by the state’s excellent formula. To this end, we have requested $52.5 million for the next biennium for all of IU’s campuses.

At IU, we view Repair and Rehabilitation as a partnership between the state and the university, and together we are making great progress in reducing IU’s deferred maintenance—from approximately $1 billion in 2010 to less than $450 million in FY 2017.

Consistent with our long-term priorities, nearly all of our requests for capital funding involve revitalizing existing IU facilities. These projects include:

• The continued renovation of large academic facilities in the historic heart of the IU Bloomington campus known as the Old Crescent. The third phase of this project, which was recommended by the Commission for Higher Education as IU’s top priority, will focus on structural improvements and upgrades to classroom facilities in Ballantine Hall and the Geological Sciences Building.
• Renovations to the Health Sciences Building on the Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis campus. One of the former Wishard Memorial Hospital facilities, the building will be used for the Fairbanks School of Public Health and the IU School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, putting them in close proximity to the renowned Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health.
• A deferred maintenance request that would enable IU to finance critically needed major renovations to existing buildings on all of IU’s regional campuses.

Extraordinary support

Late last year, we were delighted to announce one of the largest gifts ever to the IU School of Medicine, which will enable IU researchers to engage the power of the immune system in the quest to cure cancer and other diseases.

This tremendous gift of $30 million from Indianapolis entrepreneur Donald E. Brown, M.D., the largest ever to the school from an alumnus, will help establish the Brown Center for Immunotherapy, which will work to discover new ways to deploy innovative, immune-based therapies to treat cancers and pioneer use of this powerful technology in other diseases. In doing so, it will also further Indiana’s standing as a powerful engine for biomedical discovery and innovation.

In January, the IU Kelley School of Business received a $1.25 million gift from retired Kelley professor C. Randall “Randy” Powell, who led the school’s career services office for more than three decades, helping tens of thousands of undergraduate and graduate students begin their professional careers.