The 2008 freshman class is proving the University can maintain its academic standards while increasing enrollment. According to the University’s fall 2008 “census snapshot,” the current freshman class has nearly the same average ACT composite score as the previous freshman class.The average composite ACT score of the 2008 freshman class is 25.39, a slight increase from the 2007 composite ACT score of 25.37. The 2008 freshman class also has 544 more students than the 2007 freshman class. The 2006 average composite ACT score was 25.1 with an increase from the 2005 score of 24.8.”We’re very thrilled that we can get bigger and better at the same time,” said Jim McCoy, vice provost of Enrollment Management, Planning and Policy.McCoy said this year’s freshman class is larger than previous classes, but it maintains the same academic quality despite the size. The current minimum “floor for admissions” is a composite ACT score of 22, a “B” average in high school and 18 high school credit hours.The University will likely maintain the same standards or increase very slightly in the coming semesters, McCoy said.”We don’t want to have the average ACT score here a 30. That’s not realistic,” McCoy said. “I’d say we’d like to maintain where we are or increase slightly.”McCoy said it’s impossible to have a high average composite ACT score, like a 28, unless students with “huge academic credentials” are recruited from in state and out of state.Dorothy McCaughey, English instructor, said she’s pleased that students in the current freshman class are more prepared for college than students in the past. But McCaughey said the University should be careful when considering raising admissions criteria.”This is still a state university, and we should stay the university for most of Louisiana high school students,” McCaughey said.McCaughey said she is relieved to see the University didn’t lower admissions standards to increase enrollment and said a turnout of high-caliber students is “very good for LSU.”Louisiana’s average composite ACT score increased two-tenths of a point from 20.1 in 2007 to 20.3 in 2008, according to a news release from the Louisiana Board of Regents.Theresa Hay, Board of Regents assistant commissioner, said Louisiana has “outpaced” the national average.Nationwide, according to the news release, the average composite ACT score in 2007 was 21.2 and dropped to 21.1 in 2008.Since 2002, the Board of Regents has administered two pre-ACT tests, the Explore Assessment and the Plan Assessment to eighth-grade students and 10th-grade students in Louisiana public schools, Hay said. Additionally, 4,000 more students took the ACT in 2008 than in 2007.Hay said the pretests prepare students for the ACT and help students understand which classes they should take in high school.Richard Omda, Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance research planning officer, said the increasing state average will have little effect on Louisiana’s Taylor Opportunity Program for Students.Students currently must make a 20 on the ACT to receive the TOPS Opportunity Award the tier that pays tuition.Omda said the TOPS Opportunity Award’s minimum score will increase with the state average. He said a 20.5 average ACT score would mean a 21 would be required for the Opportunity Award.Omda said 27,283 students statewide receive the TOPS Opportunity Award.—-Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]