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Student Rights and Responsibility

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Education after high school costs you time, money, and effort. It's a big investment, and you should carefully evaluate the schools you're considering. It's up to you to check it out!

To find out about a school, you need to:

• Ask the school which organizations provide its accreditation. The accrediting agencies have evaluated the school and found it meets certain minimum requirements that the agencies have set. Note:USI is accredited by the the Higher Learning Commission (formerly North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools)and holds accreditation in several majors from eleven agencies specializing in specific areas of study.
• Ask the school about its loan default rate (the percentage of students who attended the school, took out federal student loans, and later went into default). Note: In the most recent year available, 2004, USI's Stafford Loan default rate was 3.8 percent.
• Ask the school for a copy of its campus security report. The campus security report provides information on the school's campus security policies and campus crime statistics. Schools must publish and distribute a campus security report every year to all current students and employees of the school. At USI, call the Security office at 812/464-1845 for this information.
• Ask the school for its career success rates. At USI, call the Office of Career Services and Placement at 812/464-1865 for this information. Among the 2004 graduates employed, 89.7% found jobs in an area related to their major within six months of graduation.
• Ask the financial aid office about the school's refund policy. If you enroll but never begin classes, you should get most of your money back. If you begin attending classes but leave before completing your coursework, you may be able to get part of your money back. Keep in mind that if you receive federal student aid from any of the programs except for Federal Work-Study and a refund is made by the school, some or all of that money will be returned directly to those aid programs or to the lender for your loans. Note: Even if you don't finish your coursework, you'll have to repay the loan funds you received, less any amount returned to your lender by the school.
• Find out about financial aid availability. You have the right to receive the following information from the school:
  • the location, hours, and counseling procedures of the school's financial aid office;
  • the financial assistance that is available, including information on all federal, state, local, institutional financial aid programs;
  • the procedures and deadlines for submitting applications for each available financial aid program;
  • how a school selects financial aid recipients;
  • how the school determines your financial need;
  • how the school determines each type and amount of assistance in your financial aid package;
  • how and when you'll receive your aid;
  • how the school determines whether you're making satisfactory academic progress, and what happens if you're not. Whether you continue to receive federal financial aid depends, in part, on whether you make satisfactory academic progress;
  • and, if you're offered a Federal Work-Study job, what the job is, what hours you must work, what your duties will be, what the rate of pay will be, and how and when you'll be paid.
• Ask the school about its graduation rates. The Student Right-to-Know Act requires schools to disclose to current and prospective students the percentage of its students that complete the school's programs. At USI, call the Institutional Research and Assessment office at 812/465-7107 for this information.
• Ask the school for a copy of its "equity-in-athletics" report. Any coeducational school where you can receive SFA Program assistance that has an intercollegiate athletic program must prepare an equity-in-athletics report giving financial and statistical information for men's and women's sports. At USI, call the Athletics office at 812/464-1846 for this information.
• Compare your expected debt for attending the school to the money you expect to earn once you complete the educational program. If you borrow money to pay for all or a portion of your education, you'll need to earn or have access to enough money to repay your debt. One way to evaluate your potential earnings is to use the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook, which has information on typical wages or salaries for many occupations. It also provides information on job prospects and training and education requirements for various occupations. At USI, call our Career Counseling Center at 812/465-1136 for assistance.