Counterpoint

Now read this, from our vice provost for Enrollment Management, in today's Indy Star:

My view: Roger Thompson
More Hoosiers taking classes at Bloomington

Former Indiana University trustee Ray Richardson is sadly misinformed if he believes that qualified Indiana high school graduates are being denied admission to IU-Bloomington in favor of out-of-state students with higher SAT scores. And the data he cited in his Sept. 4 My View, "IU's goal misses the mark," are just plain wrong.

This year we offered admission to more Indiana students than we have in recent memory. Our in-state applicants were more qualified than ever before.

Of 7,208 members of this year's freshman class, 4,237 -- or 59 percent -- are from Indiana high schools. That is down 156 from last year when we had our largest freshman class ever, but still well above most previous years.

What caught us by surprise this year was that applications from out-of-state students were up dramatically, and more than expected actually enrolled. However, the Bloomington campus has always served more Hoosier undergraduate students than are covered by state aid, which has been capped for the past 10 years. Funding to cover this shortfall -- more than $7 million for 731 students last year -- came from the tuition paid by out-of-state students. Thus, they are not supplanting Indiana students but actually subsidizing them.

Richardson's claim that IU spent $20 million on scholarships for out-of-state students to entice them here is just plain wrong. In fact, our freshman scholarship budget stands at $14 million, of which more than $1.5 million is new money to provide funding exclusively to low- and middle-income Indiana families. Next fall, we will add $3 million for scholarships for high-ability Hoosiers. We are confident these new scholarships will make IU-Bloomington substantially more attractive to Indiana's top-performing high school graduates and thus raise our in-state percentage by several points.

Richardson is also incorrect in alleging that IU-Bloomington adopted a more selective admissions policy to bolster its rankings in U.S. News & World Report. Instead, we were more selective this year because our applicant pool grew by 18 percent to more than 28,000. This applicant pool also grew in terms of academic quality, with both grade-point averages and test scores increasing. It was inevitable that our average SAT score would rise accordingly.

It is reasonable to question the direction of our admissions process. I simply ask that when engaging in this dialogue we base our opinions on accurate information. The future of our state depends on an educated work force capable of competing in a global economy. I strongly believe we are excelling at this endeavor at Indiana University. Increasing the quality of the freshman class and educating more Hoosiers than the state funds does not "miss the mark," as Richardson contends. Rather, it supports the citizens of Indiana and enhances the value of every IU graduate's degree. I believe IU-Bloomington is precisely "on the mark."