Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.

ABOR considers higher admission standards for state universities


FLAGSTAFF -- The Arizona Board of Regents heard the results of a highly controversial study on Friday at the campus of Northern Arizona University.

The High School Eligibility Study sought to estimate the impacts of setting higher admission standards for Arizona high school students attempting to get into Arizona universities. Beginning in 2006, only the students in the top 25 percent of their graduating classes who have completed 16 core classes will be guaranteed admission into ASU, NAU and UA. Currently, students in the top 50 percent who have completed 14 core courses are assured admission. The extra core classes are expected to be in math and science.

The study, which divided students by ethnicity, found that by applying the new admission standards to Arizona 2002 high school graduates, only 17 percent would be guaranteed admission. The study also found that students of Native American and Hispanic ancestry would have an exceptionally difficult time seeking guaranteed admission.

From the 2002 sample, only 21 percent of Native Americans and 30 percent of Hispanic students would be guaranteed entry into Arizona universities, declining from 40 percent and 42 percent in 1998. Thirty-one percent of African-Americans in the study would be eligible for certain admission, down from 40 percent.

The study results came from a stratified random sample of transcripts from Arizona public high schools in 2002. The margin of error rate is estimated at 4 percent.

The larger restructuring of the Arizona university system and the proposed higher restrictions for guaranteed admission aimed at improving university graduation rates has alarmed some in Arizona.

"I guess the new tougher admission standards will help the minority graduation rate, since there will be fewer overall minorities," a Hispanic ASU professor, who didn't want to be identified, said. "The numbers for the ones who would graduate anyway will stay the same, but the grad rate will go 'up' in terms of the total number of minority enrollments."

Educators at the meeting were careful to point out that that the proposed raising of admission standards for 2006 were still under review, particularly the requirement for a fourth year of math.

"I don't see how forcing a student with a passion for literature to take another year of math really helps them," said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, who proposed an extra requirement of social studies. "With three years of math, they can do math that most adults can't. There are many students who benefit from four years of math, and there are many who don't."

ASU President Michael Crow agreed.

"I think that the 16 (core classes) is pretty good, and I agree that four years of math is a lot," he said. "The system is pretty good, but we need to tweak it a little."

The restructuring of Arizona's universities and the proposed increases in guaranteed admission requirements stem from what ABOR President Chris Herstam has previously called a "crisis of access and capacity."

Tom Wickenden, the associate executive director for Academic and Student Affairs, said that budget shrinkages have forced the state's universities to reorganize the state's higher education system and led them to consider placing enrollment caps.

Now, institutions are also placing higher importance on seeking private donations and placing greater emphasis on research, which traditionally brings in grant funds, Wickenden said.

Wickenden also stressed that higher admission standards for guaranteed admission will not automatically disqualify potential college students.

"They still might be admitted, but not all of them will," he said. "NAU has said that it will accept the lower quartet, ASU said they might and UA said they might not."

Reach the reporter at christian.palmer@asu.edu.


Continue supporting student journalism and donate to The State Press today.

Subscribe to Pressing Matters



×

Notice

This website uses cookies to make your experience better and easier. By using this website you consent to our use of cookies. For more information, please see our Cookie Policy.