According to a recent Board of Regents and Louisiana Department of Education study, students entering Louisiana’s four-year universities are more prepared for college than they were in 1999.
The study showed 32.7 percent of the 1999 freshman class would not have qualified for the institution in which they enrolled if the 2005 admissions requirements were in place. Less than 20 percent of the 2003 freshman class would fail to qualify for their respective institutions.
“We compared their level of preparation compared to the 2005 admission,” said Kevin Hardy, the communications director for the Board of Regents. “In those years, clearly the preparation level has improved.”
Louisiana’s “Master Plan For Public Post-secondary Education” calls for all public universities to have more stringent admissions requirements by fall 2005.
“This report demonstrates that our efforts to educate students and parents about the importance of proper high school preparation — particularly in light of the new requirements — and the targeted marketing and recruitment efforts of our colleges and universities are having the desired effect,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Joseph Savoie in a Board of Regents press release.
As the state’s flagship university, LSU will have Louisiana’s most strict admissions requirements when the new standards take effect.
To be accepted to the University, high school seniors will need to have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, have an ACT composite score of 23 or rank in the top 25 percent of their high school graduating class, Hardy said.
Hardy said the new admissions requirements will not cause a major decrease in the number of freshmen admitted to the state’s public four-year universities.
“We have every reason to believe that next year’s class will be more improved,” Hardy said. “When the 2005 admissions standards go into effect, the decrease will be manageable. It may be a more gradual or subtle effect.”
Hardy pointed out that those not accepted to LSU would likely meet the requirements to another four-year university in Louisiana. He also pointed out the overall benefits of the new standards.
“Even though your freshman classes will be smaller, you should see a positive effect on the upper classes,” Hardy said. “The retention rates will go up.”
Retention rates and graduation rates will go up as these better-prepared students become upperclassmen, Savoie said in the press release.