Comments on Advance Indiana™: Purdue's Tuition Freeze Is Freezing Out Indiana Residents

Gary, I too thought as you do, but Ivy Tech has tr...

2015-08-05T06:09:39.900-05:00

Gary, I too thought as you do, but Ivy Tech has transformed itself in the last 15 years into a solid post-high school educational institution. It has locations in cities that are easily less than an hour's drive from many communities. It hires knowledgeable instructors, and the administration has made strong efforts to assist alumni in transferring credits to 4-year schools like IU, Purdue & Ball State. Now, this does NOT mean that Ivy Tech bans Gen'l Assembly members from its payroll, but the Ivy Tech of today is not the frustrating bureacracy of the 1990s.

My alma mater, Colby College, offers all aid in th...

2015-08-04T19:44:14.196-05:00

My alma mater, Colby College, offers all aid in the form of grants instead of loans. Fantastic in some ways, but to make it add up, 60% of the students pay the full load, over $60,000. Imagine the wealth of those families.
The way to keep tuition reasonable is what the rest of do: stop buying stuff. The schools have to stop the physical plant arms race and picking off each other's top professors with high salaries for people who get fall break, winter break spring break and summer break.

Ivy Tech is our poor substitute for a community co...

2015-08-04T10:02:31.474-05:00

Ivy Tech is our poor substitute for a community college system. It's first and foremost mission is to provide no-work, no-show jobs for political insiders. Education is a secondary mission.

When I moved here to Indianapolis from South Ch...

2015-08-04T09:58:20.297-05:00

When I moved here to Indianapolis from South Chicago area in 1976, I was shocked to learn Indiana did not have a Junior College System like Illinois had. People here did not understand what I was talking about when I mentioned the Junior College System we had in Illinois. The Junior Colleges were all over the state of Illinois. They were in effect commuter colleges, you could live at home and go to college. The tuition was much less than the big four year Universities. You could get a two year associate degree or transfer your Freshman, and Sophomore credits to a University if you were going for a four degree. The other good point was students could make the important decision of if College was really for them, without wasting thousands of dollars.

The lack of a state wide Junior College system seems to be one more thing Indiana is behind the Eight Ball on.

When I transferred to IUPUI from IVY TECH here is ...

2015-08-04T01:11:26.479-05:00

When I transferred to IUPUI from IVY TECH here is what counted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Central_Association_of_Colleges_and_Schools
This put education on the same playing field with transfer of credits, lots like the big boys aren't playing fair anymore!

I've heard IU students complain about being ab...

2015-08-03T18:13:31.603-05:00

I've heard IU students complain about being able to transfer credits when moving from the Bloomington to IUPUI campus. The diplomas both schools issue say Indiana University, but for some reason credits earned at one campus are deemed unacceptable at the other campus.

I was on a flight and ended sitting next to a guy ...

2015-08-03T17:46:39.120-05:00

I was on a flight and ended sitting next to a guy who was traveling between Indy and DC to lobby for the school. (I can't remember what school, I think it was IU)

Tip to Gary, any good lawyer will know you never ask a question you don't know the answer to, I asked this guy, "So, are you saying that students today are getting a better education than me since they are paying so much more?"

His answer was simple. "No. It is just that colleges and universities that have added so many layers of management that you have to pay for it somehow".

I feel bad for kids today. The only problem of going to an Ivy Tech to another college is you have to make sure the CREDITS TRANSFER 100%!!!

I had an Associate degree from a school and went back to finish my BA from the same school. I had to fight tooth and nail to get them to accept THEIR classes for credit. I think I got all but one - I knew it all was about $$$

Wait, Gary. Using the application & enrollmen...

2015-08-03T10:54:24.166-05:00

Wait, Gary. Using the application & enrollment figures cited, it would seem that in-state applications comprise about 22% of the 40,000 total applications. However, it seems like in-state students make up 48% of the attendees. That seems to indicate that -- at least proportionally -- a lot more out-of-state & int'l students are being denied admission (presumably in favor of in-state students). I fail to see the problem here.

My nephew started out at Ivy Tech, which I paid fo...

2015-08-03T10:49:09.565-05:00

My nephew started out at Ivy Tech, which I paid for. And after his first year he transferred into IU Bloomington, which I intended to pay for, but he announced that he had received aid and did not need me to pay for any more of his education. Well, that aid ended up being student loans, which they pushed on him. Now he has graduated, but he has more than $20,000 worth of debt for his degree. He landed an entry level management job that doesn't pay much. And his student loans will be a burden for years to come. When I went to college, I struggled to work part time jobs while in school, and I managed to pay my tuition and buy my books as I went, with a little help from my parents when I ran short. Those days are long gone. These tuition costs now are extremely high. But IU spends money like its going out of style. Professors make six figures. New buildings go up. Their budget is nothing like in the old days. I guess I think the Universities mismanage their budgets and live too high on the hog. I think Indiana kids ought to be able to go to Indiana universities without taking on huge debt. And I really don't think our politicians care at all. I don't.

Simple. Yank its state charter, and pull all of it...

2015-08-03T10:46:03.336-05:00

Simple. Yank its state charter, and pull all of its state funding.