Faculty in LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication voted Friday to lower admission standards for the program in a 16 to 12 vote, according to a professor who was present at the meeting. The meeting lasted about six minutes. 
The changes include removing the 3.0 GPA standard, lowering credit hour requirements and directly admitting high-achieving high school students. 
Josh Grimm, interim dean of the Manship School, said he hopes the changes can go into effect as early as next semester, but the proposal will first have to go through LSU upper administration. 

Manship, the university’s college for journalism, public relations, political communication and digital advertising majors, is one of the most selective at LSU. The school requires:

• Thirty hours of college-level coursework, meaning most students aren’t accepted until their sophomore year

• Completion of MC 2010, an intro media writing class, with a B- or better.

• A 250-word essay about career and development goals, and a resume. 

The proposed changes will:

• Lower the credit hour requirement to 24 hours

• Remove the 3.0 GPA prioritization 

• Consider additional criteria for directly admitting high school students, like high school media experience or other relevant experiences

Faculty in support of the proposal have argued that the changes will boost the program’s share of students from underrepresented programs. Other faculty are concerned that the program is not equipped with enough academic resources to ensure students with lower GPA’s are able to succeed in the school.