THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512080003
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The equation is indisputable: Fewer students low in motivation and more students talented and raring to learn equal a better university.
To enroll fewer unmotivated students, Old Dominion University just raised its admission standards slightly, with more hikes expected in years to come.
To attract a greater number of more motivated and talented high-school students, ODU has:
Guaranteed every undergraduate an internship in his or her field. Studies show that internship experience increases graduates' value in employers' eyes.
Guaranteed top high-school students that they'll be admitted into competitive master's programs.
Offered accelerated five-year programs leading to a bachelor's and a master's in five years in certain popular fields, including business administration.
Pledged book stipends of $500 to freshmen with strong high-school records.
If ODU were a building, we'd say it was raising its floor and ceiling at the same time.
The impetus for raising the floor was a study showing 42 percent of ODU freshmen last year were doing so poorly they faced probation or suspension. The school implemented a range of supplemental instruction programs, with additional faculty help, but most faltering students failed to seek the help.
The admission-standards hike taking effect this fall is expected to keep out only 50 to 60 students who would have gotten in under the old standards, but ODU Acting President Jo Ann Gora said, ``We would like, over a series of years, to slowly but steadily raise the admission standards to present an environment that is very supportive of the academically talented and motivated student.''
Obviously students goofing off distract the students who know why they are in school. Motivated students - and they can be found studying all over the ODU campus - raise the level of learning for everybody.
One reason ODU is raising its admission standards now is that it can - without shrinking. National projections call for smaller college recruitment pools in most states, Gora said, but not Virginia. As the pool of graduating high-school students swells, ODU can become more selective.
Making ODU tougher to get into might sound undemocratic, un-American, unequalitarian; but there are other schools, including community colleges, where the excluded students can prove themselves.
Also, a university education is not a right. If doing well in high school is too big a bother, attending university lectures and studying two hours outside class for every hour inside class also will be too big a bother. The best indicator that a student will do well in college, Gora said, is a good high-school grade average.
ODU is right both to exclude weaker students and to seek stronger students. The school is hardly excluding the bulk of its students as it aims higher. To state the obvious: Better is better. by CNB