As states cut their budgets and students and families bear more of the cost of a college education, Lumina Foundation for Education recently announced last week that Indiana has been selected as one of 11 states to receive a grant to further increase productivity in higher education. State leaders will develop and implement policy changes that promote cost-saving methods of delivering high-quality education to greater numbers of students.

Indiana and the 10 other participating states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin) will receive a oneyear grant of $150,000 through the foundation's Making Opportunity Affordable (MOA) initiative to develop innovative strategies in key policy areas to promote sustainable improvements in productivity. The states will be eligible to compete next year for a $2-million Opportunity Grant to implement their plans over four years.

The initiative seeks to advance policy innovation and change in higher education finance, management and instructional delivery to get many more students into and through postsecondary education.

Indiana has been working to bolster the productivity of its higher education system through the Indiana Commission for Higher Education's strategic plan Reaching Higher: Strategic Initiatives for Higher Education in Indiana. The Reaching Higher initiatives make a series of recommendations and set accountabilities designed to advance a system of higher education in Indiana that places it among the best in the country with regard to accessibility, affordability, degree completion and research, assuring the states' citizens of opportunity and better quality of life.

With support from the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, the governor's office, key legislative leaders and others, the new grant will enable the state to expand the Reaching Higher effort by focusing on the implementation, expansion and analysis of a new funding formula for public higher education that includes financial incentives for degree completion, course completion, time to degree and other outcomes measures. In addition, work will involve a continuing dialogue with and engagement of postsecondary faculty and leadership to identify challenges within their institutions that could inhibit increased success and efficiency, and to identify and/or develop strategies for overcoming those challenges.

It's imperative that we use money wisely and in ways that allow more and more Hoosiers to realize the dream of a college education." said Stan Jones, Commissioner for Higher Education. "We're pleased that Lumina is making it possible for states to focus more deeply on this important issue."

"The business community is interested in results-oriented approaches." added Kevin Brinegar, President of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. "We're glad to be part of this effort to move a degree completion agenda forward in Indiana."

The United States spends about twice as much as the average industrialized country per student on higher education, not including research spending, and it is graduating students at a higher cost than other nations. The United States is now tied for 10th internationally in the percentage of adults 25 to 34 who hold college degrees. Worse, the United States now ranks 15th among nations in the proportion of college students who start work toward degrees and actually complete them, leaving many students with piles of student loan debt and nothing to show. Meanwhile, the cost of attending college has risen more rapidly than household incomes, and the availability of financial aid has not kept up with tuition increases.

"We need to take a harder look at how public colleges are prioritizing and managing their resources. Current spending patterns are not sustainable in the face of rapid demographic shifts, rising costs on campuses, and increased competition for state budget dollars," said Jamie Merisotis, president of Lumina Foundation. "We must find ways of increasing productivity on our nation's campuses to raise U.S. degree-attainment rates, which have remained stagnant in recent decades. And we need to explore and invest in new models for delivering a college education, especially if these models can help the United States graduate more students who face financial and academic challenges."