Attracting young people to attend college continues to be a challenge. With outside influences downplaying the need for a college degree, IU Southeast is continuing to commit to creating pathways for young students that lead them to a college degree.

IU Southeast administration, faculty and staff work closely with local schools, starting as early as elementary school, and continuing through middle and high school, to provide resources and pre-college advising, as well as the analysis and development of the Advanced College Placement and dual credit programs.

Sarah Barger is the Program Management Specialist for Academic Pathways and focuses on the current education pathway IU Southeast has established with the Greater Clark School Corp. The partnership allows students to come to our campus and take dual enrollment credit toward an education degree while also completing their high school education.

“My goal is to grow this pathway and possibly create more options for students in the future,” said Barger.

Early contact is a key factor in encouraging future students to apply to college. Barger and Indiana College Core Program (ICCP) Manager, Megan Willman focuses on meeting future students where they are and providing them with the resources they need to access a college education.

“Beginning to have early college/career conversations allows students to start thinking about their futures and how to prepare now,” said Barger. “Maybe that is with dual credit classes in high school, informational interviews, research on careers and majors, job shadowing, and more. The key is to share with them the programs that colleges have to offer and how to connect them to campus life."

In her role as ICCP Manager, Willman works closely with the Pathways Plus model. The model guides potential college students through a path starting with college readiness. As seeds are planted to promote the importance of college, potential students are guided through career exploration and work-based learning activities to encourage them to see the value of a college education to their future. Once students are on campus, Willman and Barger work to engage students in campus life, which is intended to lead them to completing their program curriculum. Students also receive support from advising and student services.

“Indiana has seen a significant decrease in the number of students attending post-secondary institutions, and we are focused on helping to reverse that trend,” said Willman.

Barger and Willman visit elementary and middle schools presenting activities and assisting teachers to increase the college-going rate, with the goal of directing those future students to IU Southeast. Since December over a thousand middle schoolers have visited the IU Southeast campus. These visits create touchpoints that can lead students to enroll in college in the future.

“One of the primary tenants of our positions is to help students discern their path beyond high school, whether that’s at IU Southeast or somewhere else,” said Willman.

Many of our students will go on to work in the greater Louisville area, so building a robust talent pipeline is a key priority. Each IU campus has implemented the positions held by Barger and Willman, showing the dedication Indiana University has towards creating direct pathways for Indiana students to attend and complete a university education.