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by EDWARD SZTUKOWSKI
News Editor
The University of North Carolina Board of Governors is considering a policy shift, which would cap enrollment for universities who do not increase their retention rates.
UNC School System President Erskine B. Bowles said in the past, universities have been rewarded for increasing their enrollment growth, but now they want to concentrate on graduation.
“We’re doing a great job in accessibility, but we haven’t done a good job in retention or graduation,” Bowles said. “This is a significant policy and focus shift. We agree it’s the right emphasis for the universities.”
Appalachian State
University had a first-to-second-year retention rate of 85.6 percent in
2006-07, according to the North Carolina State Budget. North Carolina
State University had the highest at 89.2 percent. More recent numbers
have not been released.
UNC
Board of Governors Chairwoman Hannah Gage said a significant amount of
students admitted to universities fail out in the first few years.
By utilizing community colleges, they could better prepare students for higher education, Gage said.
“We may
have taken students who were not ready,” Gage said. “What if we took
some near admits and instead of coming to the university, what if we
did a better job at preparing students for higher education?”
Bowles said the UNC School System is working more with community colleges to help prepare students heading to universities.
“We
believe a number of students would be better served at community
college and tax payers would also,” Bowles said. “We’re working as one
now.”
Bowles
said when students drop out of school, taxpayers end up losing money.
By raising graduation rates, it “costs [the students less], and costs
the state less.”
He said
by raising admission standards at universities, admission standards
would rise at schools from kindergarten to high school.
“Your GPA is phenomenally close to your chance to graduate,” Bowles said. “The SAT correlation is not as high.”
By
raising admission standards and also giving students better access to
counseling, Bowles hopes to see graduation rates rise in the coming
years.
“There
are a lot of downsides to the economic crisis,” Bowles said. “The
upside is demand is up and we can increase our standards.”
The
policy change will continue to be in open discussion this year, Bowles
said. Significant dialogue on the matter is likely to come in the next
two Board of Governors meetings, which will be held Oct. 9 and 13.
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