High school students struggling with math will have to raise their scores if they want to attend the University in two years. Beginning in fall 2009, the University’s minimum SAT/ACT sub-score required to enroll in college-level math will be raised to 460 for the SAT and 19 for the ACT. The present SAT math sub-score required is 450, and the present ACT math sub-score required is 18, which is below the national average. Guadalupe Lamadrid, associate director of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, said she sees the move as a positive step. “It’s a perfect tie-in with the Flagship Agenda,” Lamadrid said. “We thought this was the natural next step to take.” Lamadrid said the University sets its own criteria while working closely with the Louisiana Department of Education. The Louisiana Board of Regents makes recommendations, but the University has the final decision. “The guiding force is the Flagship Agenda,” Lamadrid said. “We want to speak in one voice in the direction the state and institution is going.” Students who scored higher than 18 on the ACT math sub-score performed better in Math 1021, and the University will not offer any remedial classes. The study conducted by the Louisiana Board of Regents showed changing the math sub-score would impact less than 200 students. Lamadrid said the admissions office encourages high school students to retake the ACT if they do not score a 19 or higher in the math section. If students cannot make the minimum sub-score required, they encourage students to take the SAT. “Students are now taking the ACT five to six times,” Lamadrid said. “We work closely with high school students and counselors and inform them all the way of what is required.” Lamadrid said there are no plans to increase the minimum English sub-score requirement. “We haven’t found problems in English like we have in math,” Lamadrid said. “The groundwork has been laid. I don’t think there will be many more changes. We’re settling this in place and getting stronger students.” Mary Parker, executive director of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Student Aid, said the University’s goal is to increase the average composite score of incoming freshman. “We want to recruit the best and brightest students,” Parker said. The average composite ACT score for entering freshman at the University increased by 0.5 points in the past two years from 24.8 to 25.3. The University currently has the highest requirements for admissions compared to other four-year public universities in the state. Entering freshman are required to have a high school GPA of 3.0, an ACT composite score of 25 or a high school graduation rank of top 10 percent and no required remedial coursework.
—-Contact Leslie Presnall at [email protected]