Senate passes bill to curb ‘credit creep’ at Indiana colleges

By Lesley Weidenbener
The Statehouse File

INDIANAPOLIS – State higher education officials could force universities to reduce the number of credit hours they require for some majors under a bill the Indiana Senate approved on Tuesday.

House Bill 1220 – approved 39-11 – is part of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ agenda and is meant to curtail so-called credit creep, when universities add credits to majors and minors that force students to stay in school longer and rack up higher tuition bills.

Nearly 90 percent of degree programs at the state’s public universities and colleges exceed what once was considered standard – 120 credit hours for bachelor’s degrees and 60 hours for associate degrees – said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg.

HB 1220 would give the Indiana Commission for Higher Education more authority to review majors with credit totals that exceed those levels. But the bill exempts some programs – such as pharmacy and physical therapy – in which licensing or other requirements call for additional training.

Leising said the bill will save money for Hoosier families and the state because it means students will be able to graduate faster.

“This might be the most consumer friendly higher education bill we’ve seen in my entire time in the legislature,” Leising said.

But some Democrats opposed the bill. Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, said universities “are in the best position” to decide what a major should require.

And Sen. Tim Skinner, D-Terre Haute, said lawmakers should not be acting to encourage less education.

“So what if it takes five years because of economic circumstances for someone to work their way through school. I don’t care if it takes six years,” Skinner said. “We need to encourage students to hang in there no matter how long it takes.”

The bill now goes back to the House, which approved a different version of the legislation.

Lesley Weidenbener is managing editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.