It is too early to predict the long-term impact of Indiana's recent financial aid reforms. However, given the remarkable progress achieved after only one year, an encouraging picture is emerging that foreshadows significant future improvement as further awareness and intervention efforts take hold. Indiana is a national leader in providing low-income students with financial support for college, however, they faced a challenge. The resulting gains in college access, were not been matched with gains in college completion. One culprit was timing: students are limited to four years of financial aid, but graduating in four years is the exception, not the rule. Students facing an unfunded fifth or sixth year of college are likely to borrow more or drop out without a degree, an unfortunate outcome that offers few options and limited employment opportunities. To avoid this fate, students must complete enough credits--at least 30 per year--to graduate before their four years of state financial support run out. In 2013, a solutions was offered-- Indiana lawmakers sent a clear signal that encouraged on-time college completion through student financial aid incentives and annual credit completion expectations. The law's key provision required students to complete at least 30 credits each calendar year in order to renew their aid for the following year at the same level. The response following the legislation's passage, was immediate, Indiana Commission for Higher Education and its postsecondary partners began implementing aggressive new measures to notify students of the importance of on-time completion, provide additional academic advising and resources, monitor student progress and offer new sources of funding to help students reach the critical 30-credit benchmark. Student performance showed marked improvement during the law's first year. These results are even more remarkable given the initial challenges in ensuring student awareness. This report distills five key lessons learned from implementation of the financial aid challenge. An appendix contains the text of the resolution encouraging use of banded tuition as a strategy for student success and completion, a description of the college credit completion requirements for 21st century scholars, and a section about the contributors.