IUS ranks in top 20% nationwide for assisting students attain a degree
Sep. 18—NEW ALBANY — Indiana University Southeast has ranked in the top 20% of colleges and universities nationwide for assisting students from low- and moderate-income households attain a college degree and provide a strong return on their educational investment.
The school was also designated as a Tier 1 university for economic mobility by Third Way, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy think tank founded in 2005.
The Economic Mobility Index focuses on generational mobility to measure. It compares students' post-enrollment incomes to those of their parents.
Third Way evaluated the number of Pell Grant students, low- and moderate-income students who received a federal grant to cover a portion of tuition costs, and how long it takes students to recoup their educational costs based on the earnings boost they obtain by attending a college or university. There are five tier designations within the ranking system.
From the ranking data, they have found that IUS is the only Tier 1 institution serving the Louisville metropolitan area and is ranked 125 out of 1,410 colleges and universities. IUS moved up 18 places in the economic mobility in the past year.
"This is a very important ranking and a new way that groups are measuring the return on investment that our students make in higher education," said Debbie Ford, IUS' chancellor. "For us to be in the top 20% demonstrates the quality of an IUS education. But more importantly it really provides our students the opportunity to get on the pathway towards greater economic mobility."
At IUS, 29% of students are first-generation college students, 18.5% are students of color and 26% are eligible for Pell Grants. Nearly 58% of all IU Southeast students receive scholarships and state and federal grants for college.
The school has also reported that 51% of IUS graduates finish college with no debt and those students who use loans to finance their education have 30% less debt than the average debt in Indiana and Kentucky.
Approximately 8 out of 10 IU Southeast graduates remain in the region to live, work, and raise families resulting in $219.5 million in income to the region's economy.
"We will continue serving and educating our students with the quality educational experience that is provided by our outstanding faculty," Ford said. "We will continue to work with our community partners to hire our students as interns and then hire our graduates. We will also work with our alumni and donors to make sure that we create even more scholarships so more students can attend IU Southeast."
