San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Houston college mulling tougher entrance criteria
HOUSTON — Texas Southern University’s board of regents will discuss the possibility of increasing the school’s GPA requirements and waiving test scores in a special board meeting Monday, a meeting agenda shows.
The board’s committee for academic affairs, research and student life requested the regents consider increasing the required GPA for prospective undergraduates from the current 2.5 to 3.5 or higher for the 2020-2021 academic year.
An independent audit released last week found that over three years, the university admitted 4,000 students who didn’t meet the college’s academic criteria, and gave $2.1 million in scholarship and financial aid to 917 students who failed to meet eligibility requirements.
The committee also has asked that admitted undergraduates be in the top 25 percent of their high school graduating class, and to waive standardized test scores, including the SAT and ACT, as “a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic.”
Under the proposal, the number of test waivers for out-of-state first-generation students will be limited.
Currently, students are required to have a combined SAT score of 820 or higher if taken before March 2016 or 900 if taken after that date, according to the college. Those who take the ACT must earn a composite score of 17.
Regent Pamela Medina and Dr. Kendall Harris, provost and vice president for academic affairs, will present the proposals Monday.
The GPA standards at
Texas Southern could exceed the requirements of other four-year institutions in the Houston area.
Prairie View A&M University, the region’s other historically black college, has a 2.8 GPA requirement for freshmen with a total score of 800 for the SAT and a composite score of 15 for the ACT.
Monday’s meeting at Texas Southern will come just days after a board-ordered review of the college’s admissions and enrollment showed roughly half of those admitted in the combined fall 2017, 2018 and 2019 semesters did not meet academic criteria and were admitted “based on a variety of undocumented scenarios.”
The review by consulting firm Berkeley Research Group also found more than 900 students in the three fall semesters received a total of $2.1 million in scholarships despite not meeting qualifications for Texas Southern scholarship or financial aid programs.
In addition to the proposed GPA guidelines, the board is expected to discuss the review during a closed executive session.
Vickee Gray, a vocal Texas Southern alumna, said Friday that she wants to see the board’s full proposal Monday before commenting on it.
The school, which has served generations of students since its founding in the days of segregation, began increasing its enrollment requirements in 2008 after decades of open enrollment.
Under open enrollment, the college granted anyone with a high school diploma or a GED admission into an undergraduate program — an approach community colleges typically offer students.
Texas Southern’s 2008 policy, however, required its new students to graduate in the top 25 percent of their high school class or have a 2.0 grade point average in high school and score between 775 and 820 on the SAT or between 15 and 17 on the ACT.
Those who didn’t meet those criteria were offered an opportunity to participate in a summer program or referred to a community college.
John Rudley, Texas Southern’s president at the time, said the new academic criteria could result in a drop in enrollment, which could be the case for the college in the 2020-2021 academic year if new requirements are imposed.