A last-day vote in the Indiana Legislature advanced a controversial provision allowing the state to scrutinize and potentially eliminate college degree programs tied to low earnings, despite warnings from some lawmakers that the policy risks undermining essential but often underpaid professions.
Senate Bill 199 directs the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to review programs whose graduates earn median wages below the average earnings of a high school graduate in Indiana — ranging roughly from $24,000 to $35,000 — and determine whether those programs should continue, be restructured or be consolidated.
The bill would operate alongside other ongoing higher education review efforts already underway in Indiana, including recent CHE crackdowns to cut or merge hundreds of low-enrollment or duplicative degree programs statewide.
The Senate voted 34-14 to approve the final version; the House followed with a 62-32 vote.
Supporters of the measure, including bill author Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, said the policy is intended to spark further review, not automatic cuts, and to ensure students and families understand the economic outcomes tied to degrees.
Opponents, however, countered that the approach puts salaries over public value and risks destabilizing programs that still contribute to the state’s workforce.
Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder said Friday the social media language that was previously housed in the bill “sort of took the oxygen out of the room.” She argued that lawmakers “didn’t really have an opportunity to vet the other portion of this bill” dealing with college degrees.
“I agree that students and families should have that information,” Yoder said. “I think that is a worthy conversation to be having. But … that is not the only reason why students study these areas. And I think that there is value to studying these areas.”
The final draft of the bill also directs school districts to report their paid-leave practices to the Indiana Department of Education.
Separate language requires schools to maintain a 75% IREAD pass-average over a three-year period. Schools that fall short must participate in the state’s Literacy Cadre. The program pairs schools with instructional coaches to improve K–3 reading proficiency using science-of-reading-aligned professional development.
Raatz pushed back.
“There was nothing hidden from anybody, at all,” he said. “Nothing in this bill says anything is going to change. It says we’re going to review it. … It’s not a sinister plot.”
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