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Students will be automatically accepted to all seven of the state’s public colleges and universities if they complete advanced courses and work experiences to earn Indiana’s new Enrollment Honors Plus diploma, state leaders announced Wednesday.
Additionally, students who complete one of the state’s other new pathways leading to employment or enlistment in the military will be eligible for other opportunities, like interviews and apprenticeships with large companies and trade organizations based in the state, or the Indiana National Guard.
Wednesday’s announcement represents the next step for the state’s new diplomas, which the State Board of Education adopted last December to go into effect for the Class of 2029. The guaranteed acceptances and job interviews will be available only to students who earn the second-tier “plus” level of the new diplomas, which require more advanced courses and work experience.
The emphasis on work in Indiana’s new high school graduation requirements originally drew criticism from the teachers and families of college-bound students, who said it would be difficult for college-bound students to juggle work and advanced classes. The compromise was two levels: an Honors Enrollment diploma, which does not have a work requirement, and a second-tier Honors Enrollment Plus diploma, which requires 75 hours of work experience.
The automatic admission policy puts Indiana on a short but growing list of other states like California, Idaho, New York, and Texas that offer automatic admission to public colleges and universities to high-achieving students.
But while some of those states limit students to certain campuses depending on capacity, Indiana students will be able to choose which campus they attend, according to Indiana University President Pamela Whitten and Purdue University President Mung Chiang, who attended a joint press conference Wednesday with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and Secretary of Education Katie Jenner.
Ball State, Indiana State, Ivy Tech, University of Southern Indiana, and Vincennes University are also participating in the automatic acceptance program. Private colleges have also indicated interest, according to Wednesday’s announcement.
The state currently offers a pre-admission initiative based on students’ SAT scores and GPA. But it does not include all campuses, like the main branches of IU and Purdue, for example.
The new diplomas will be required beginning with the Class of 2029, but schools can opt-in to offer them earlier. According to Jenner, they can also opt to initially offer the diplomas only to students who want them.
College officials said they’ll begin to accept applications from students with the Honors Plus seal as soon as students can earn the new diplomas.
Students who earn the Employment Honors Plus, meanwhile, will receive what leaders called “dedicated career support.” This could mean interviews with companies like Community Health Network, Cummins, and Lilly, as well as guaranteed apprenticeships with the Central Midwest Carpenters Union.
To earn the advanced employment diploma, students will have to complete 650 hours of work experience, which can be paid or unpaid, in-person, on-campus, or simulated, according to the diploma guidelines. It’s not clear if the work experience can include typical first jobs in restaurants and retail; Jenner said the state will provide more examples of what that experience could look like.
“We have excellent examples around Indiana from urban schools right here in Indianapolis to some of our most rural schools in Perry County,” Jenner said. “They don’t even have a stoplight but most of their seniors have a work-based learning opportunity.”
Students with the Enlistment Honors Plus seal will be “uniquely qualified to join the Indiana National Guard and other military branches,” according to Wednesday’s announcement. Once they join the National Guard, students will have access to veteran mentors and job placement opportunities, according to the diploma guidelines.
The new diplomas — and the opportunities that come with them — are already attracting interest from Indiana students.
By the time junior Rima Bahradine-Bell graduates from Career Academy High School next year, she’ll also have earned her associate’s degree, her Certified Nursing Assistant certification, and her welding certificate.
That’s on top of running track, participating in the robotics team, and working part-time — and Bahradine-Bell said she hopes to clear her schedule enough to take on an internship related to her interest in politics, too. If she has the opportunity to earn the new diplomas, she said she would take it.
She said that beginning in middle school, teachers at the Career Academy Network of Public Schools began to encourage students to explore at least two different future paths.
“Even though I know I want to go to college, I know many of my peers and even my siblings didn’t think that college was for them,” she said. “Having those certifications going straight into the workforce was a great opportunity that my school is already providing.”
Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.
