Tougher admissions standards have lowered the number of University of Utah freshmen students on academic probation but also have boosted the number of high-school students statewide taking college-preparatory courses, the U. Board of Trustees heard Monday.
The data were reported during a presentation by U. administrators about U. admissions standards and enrollment. Pushed by the state Board of Regents, Utah's universities are taking a hard look at tougher admissions standards as a way to manage enrollment growth.The U. also has a task force studying enrollment/admissions issues.
The state's four universities are exploring the adoption of a common admissions index based on a student's high-school GPA and ACT or SAT scores, said Academic Vice President Jerilyn McIntyre.
Until now, the U. was the only institution to use the index to predict student success. Students who score below a certain level on the index are denied admission.
McIntyre said the executive committee of the U. Academic Senate recently recommended raising the index cutoff from a score of 74 to 80. A 74 is a low "C" student. "There are very few admitted at the 74 level," she said.
In 1987, the U. adopted specific coursework for admissions. Utah State University is now exploring the adoption of similar required courses, she said.
Vice President for Budget and Planning Anthony Morgan said the U. was an open-admissions school until the coursework requirements. In 1987, the U. began requiring more courses in English, mathematics, foreign language and science.
After course requirements, the number of high school students taking these courses increased substanially, he said. (See chart.)
The adoption of the admissions index, which looks at the GPA and ACT or SAT to predict academic success, also dropped the number of students on academic probation from 35 percent to 20 percent.
"That is marked improvement and provides a much more positive experience for freshmen," Morgan said.
Other U. admissions/enrollment data released to the trustees included:- Denial of admission is usually related to a student's coursework preparation, not his score on the admissions index.
- The U.'s share of overall college enrollment has declined. It was 34.1 percent of the Utah System of Higher Education in 1987. It's 29.2 percent now and is expected to drop to 25.6 percent by the year 2000.
- Enrollment has increased 8.8 percent in the past five years, despite the U.'s drop in the overall enrollment share. The enrollment of Salt Lake Community College - the system's fastest-growing school - has increased 80.3 percent in the same period.
- First-time freshmen enrollment declined by 7.5 percent in the past five years.
- Transfer students increased 41.2 percent in that same period. "We are increasingly becoming an upper-division institution," Morgan said.
- Transfer students from the state's community colleges account for 38 percent of all students who transfer. The largest feeder school is SLCC.
- About one-third of the transfer students come from out-of-state institutions. That, however, doesn't mean the students are out-of-state residents. In 1991, only half of these transfers from out-of-state institutions were non-residents.
- Transfer agreements between the U. and the other state schools began in 1987. Agreements exist between the colleges now. The next step will be to formalize transfer agreements between the four schools and a common course numbering system.
(Additional information)
College preparation
High school students are taking more English, math, foreign language and science courses before they are admitted to the University of Utah. The U. adopted tougher admissions standards in 1987. The following are courses and the percentages of high school students completing the courses before admission:
1984 1991
3 years of English 79.7% 96.8%
2 years of mathematics 65.7% 97.5%
2 years of foreign language 11.6% 55.2%
2 years of science 47.8% 93.7%