What to know about ‘seamless admissions’ to IU Indianapolis for IPS high school students

Starting this school year, Indianapolis Public Schools high school seniors with a 3.0 GPA or higher can be admitted automatically to Indiana University Indianapolis as part of a new initiative to break down barriers that keep students from college.

Students with qualifying grades will now only have to fill out a short online form to be admitted to IU Indianapolis. The first of these students could start at the college in the fall of 2024.The new initiative is part of the state’s recent push to increase Indiana’s college-going rate, which has been on a steady decline in recent years.

Here is what you need to know about the new initiative:

How many students will this affect?

Currently, the initiative only applies to IPS’s four district-run high schools: Arsenal Tech, Crispus Attucks, Shortridge, and George Washington. 

Around 250 current IPS seniors would qualify for the automatic admittance, according to an Indiana University spokesperson.

PJ Woolston, vice chancellor for enrollment management at IU Indianapolis, told IndyStar that the four district-managed high schools have already connected their data systems with those of the university, allowing for this new “seamless admissions” process.

Why is IU Indianapolis partnering with IPS?

IPS and IUPUI have worked together to provide various school programming and scholarships over the years and now that the downtown campus is splitting into two, IU Indianapolis and Purdue Indianapolis, the college will still maintain a close relationship with the school district.

More on the IUPUI split: Indiana University, Purdue to split IUPUI into 2 separate schools

This specific seamless admissions initiative is meant to provide targeted help for students in their home school district, Woolston said. Still, he said, university officials would also love to see the program expand further to additional high schools in the region.

What does this mean for students at other Marion County high schools?

A similar state-wide college admissions initiative called Indiana Pre-Admissions: Your Path to College launched this fall through the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. This program grants pre-admission to qualifying seniors to participating in-state public and private higher-ed institutions.

That initiative involves 327 high schools across the state, and 38 of Indiana’s public and private colleges or universities are participating.

To receive official admission notification, students must apply to the institution via the Common App or the institution’s own application. Students will be pre-admitted based on their cumulative GPA and or SAT scores.

What about financial assistance for students admitted to IU Indianapolis?

As soon as students are admitted to IU Indianapolis, they receive multiple communications to help them through the financial aid process, Woolston said.

IU Indianapolis has an admissions-based scholarship based on students’ GPA for which each student is automatically considered. The school also encourages students to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. 

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High school seniors are now expected to fill out the FAFSA by April 15, as part of a new Indiana law. By filling out the form students can discover if they qualify for Pell grants, the 21st Century Scholarship, the Frank O’Bannon Grant or other state and federal funding.

How can IPS students with a 3.0 GPA apply to IUI?

Beginning this school year, any qualifying IPS student will receive an email and postcard letting them know about the “opt-in” admissions process. IU admissions counselors will visit the participating high schools this fall to help students with the process.

Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy.

Caroline’s reporting is made possible by Report for America and Glick Philanthropies. As part of its work in Marion County, Glick Philanthropies partners with organizations focused on closing access and achievement gaps in education. 

Report for America is a program of The GroundTruth Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening local newsrooms. Report for America provides funding for up to half of the reporter’s salary during their time with us, and IndyStar is fundraising the remainder.  

To learn more about how you can support IndyStar’s partnership with Report for America and to make a donation, visit indystar.com/RFA.