UNC may set higher criteria
System standard for applicants
By: Eric Johnson and Stephen Moore, Senior Writers
Posted: 10/12/07


In an effort to combat low graduation rates, administrators are considering a set of minimum entry requirements for the state's 16 public universities.

While the standards would apply to every freshman entering the UNC system, the policy is aimed at a handful of campuses that have struggled to balance rapid enrollment growth with academic success.

Eight system campuses have a six-year graduation rate below 50 percent, meaning fewer than half of entering freshman will receive a diploma within six years.

"We basically have open admissions at many of our universities," said UNC-system President Erskine Bowles.

That kind of wide-open approach is the byproduct of the UNC system's focused growth initiative, which singled out seven of the system's smaller campuses for rapid expansion.

While the program is considered a success in terms of broadening access to higher education, the downside has been an increased number of students with questionable qualifications.

"Remember what happened at A&T," Bowles said, referring to the decision to include N.C. Agricultural and Technical University in the focused-growth program. "All of those kids got in, and they all flunked out."
The requirements under consideration are modest and would not take effect until fall 2009.

If the standards are approved, applicants would need a grade point average of at least 2.0 and a combined SAT score of 700. By 2013, students would need a 2.5 GPA and an 800 SAT to be considered for admission to any UNC-system school.

"We want to balance broad access and success," said Charlie Nelms, chancellor at N.C. Central University. "We need students who are better prepared in terms of the rigor of the courses they've taken."

Most students who fall short of the proposed standards are already denied admission, but system officials say the existence of a firm baseline would send a message.

"Higher admissions standards, we think, are a plus for the university and a plus for students," Bowles said.

System officials hope that gradually increasing the minimum requirement will prompt students to work harder in grade school.

Poorly prepared students are at a much higher risk of dropping out, often leaving them to face college debt without a college degree.

Already, campuses use a variety of information to determine whether a student is capable of college-level work. Schools that already have minimum standards would remain largely unaffected by the proposed policy.

At UNC-Greensboro, for example, a computer model looks at grades, standardized test scores and the reputation of students' high schools to predict their GPAs as college freshmen.

"The way we've raised admissions standards over the years is by ratcheting up that predicted GPA," said Patricia Sullivan, chancellor at UNC-G.

A potential byproduct of enforcing a baseline admissions standard would be to redirect more applicants to the state's community colleges.

Already conscious of that impact, officials said they will be working to create a more seamless relationship with community colleges.

"Everything we're doing today, we're doing with the community college system," Bowles said.


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