Porter criticizes Indiana student aid cuts, warns of deepening college access crisis

Staff report

INDIANAPOLIS — State Rep. Gregory W. Porter (D-Indianapolis) on Thursday raised alarm over what he called a “student aid crisis” in Indiana after new reports showed the state’s college-going rate has dropped to 51.7%.

The decline follows major changes to state financial aid, including an average reduction of nearly $500 per individual award and an overall $78 million cut to student assistance.

Porter said the changes, combined with stricter requirements for student loans through InvestEd — which now limits lending to students with credit scores above 750 — are pricing Hoosiers out of higher education. InvestEd, a quasi-government agency, will issue about $44 million in loans but will also extend them to out-of-state and international students.

“When we look at the big picture, our students are going to get slammed,” Porter said in a statement. “Teens feel like college isn’t worth it, and Indiana’s doing nothing to dissuade them. Students don’t want to go into massive debt for a degree only to get a post-grad job that doesn’t cover the cost of living.”

Porter argued that the state’s aid changes leave many families with only two options — wealth or private loans — and warned that private loans, which can carry interest rates above 15%, trap graduates in long-term debt.

He dismissed the state’s tuition freeze as a cosmetic fix. “It’s putting lipstick on a pig. We’re not addressing the core issues: high tuition and predatory loans,” Porter said.

The longtime lawmaker pledged to introduce legislation in the next session aimed at rebalancing state assistance and tackling student debt.

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