2001 Countdown

Compliance Date Draws Nearer For Admissions Standards

The University System of Georgia achieved a major milestone last fall: it attracted the brightest freshmen class ever. Average SAT scores for the Fall 1999 first-time freshmen class reached the national average of 1,016 for the first time ever in the System's history.

The December 1999 announcement marked an early triumph for the University System in its quest to raise the admissions standards of the state's 34 public colleges and universities. In setting its 2001 Admissions Policy Direction in the summer of 1996, the board set as a goal to meet -- and ultimately surpass -- the national SAT benchmark. It has done so two years ahead of schedule.

The Fall 1999 score of 1,016 for entering first-time freshmen continued a three-year increase that began in the Fall of 1997, the initial year of the phased-in admissions policy. The national benchmark score also reflected a 28-point increase in freshmen performance on the SAT from Fall 1996 to Fall 1999.

In addition, the Fall 1999 freshmen class represented the largest group of "home-grown" Georgia students, at 29,459, up 7.1 percent from Fall 1998, when the entering freshmen class was comprised of 27,506 Georgia residents.

System officials cited the burgeoning freshmen class and the highest-ever SAT scores as evidence of the success of two very powerful policies -- the Board of Regents' 1996 decision to raise the bar with its admissions requirements and the significant impact of the HOPE scholarship program "that keeps the best and brightest in Georgia."

University System of Georgia Chancellor Stephen R. Portch, who has been unrelenting in his call for Georgia high-school students to increase their level of preparation for college by taking the right courses and improving their performance on standardized tests, took pride in the System's SAT scores. He noted that the achievement is an even more significant accomplishment because the average score encompasses the entire range of USG students enrolled in two-year colleges through research universities.

Among the 34 USG institutions, Clayton College & State University recorded the largest single-year jump in their SAT scores, an increase of 45 points from 943 in Fall 1998 to 988 in Fall 1999. In addition, two institutions recorded an average SAT score above 1,000 for the first time: Georgia College & State University (which leaped 35 points to an average score of 1,027), and Valdosta State University (which increased by eights points, to an average score of 1,001). This brought the number of University System institutions with average SAT scores above 1,000 to a total of eight.

In addition to being a milestone marker with SAT scores, Fall 1999 also marked the half-way point for University System officials in their four-year phase-in of the Board of Regents' 2001 Admissions Policy Directive. At their October 1999 meeting, the board heard from then-Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Dr. James Muyskens that the University System is on track toward achieving the policy's goals and objectives.

Muyskens reported a significant decrease in the number of students entering the University System under-prepared to do college-level work, reflected via an increase in the completion by entering traditional students of the required high-school college prep curriculum (CPC) and a decreased student enrollment in remedial/learning support courses.

The percentage of traditional freshmen entering the System's 34 colleges and universities with an inadequate number of the mandatory college preparatory courses decreased from 27 percent to 16 percent from fiscal year 1996 to fiscal year 1999. Also, enrollment of traditional freshmen in learning support courses (because they did not meet the System's minimum requirements) dropped significantly during the same three-year period, from 36 percent to approximately 21 percent.

The board's 2001 admissions policy established higher standards for traditional freshmen and transfer students entering the University System. A full college-prep curriculum is required of all traditional freshmen (those graduating within the past five years), consisting of four units of math, four of English, three of science, three of social science, and two of foreign language. In addition, all students must meet established minima SAT/ACT scores and grade-point averages, with requirements set higher for access into the University System's universities. Traditional freshmen without the mandatory CPC or who require learning support courses no longer will be admitted to the System's research, regional or state universities. Learning support courses (for those students who still require such support) will be concentrated in the University System's two-year colleges, which will serve as access points into the System. Students who succeed at two-year colleges then may transfer on to a university, aided by enhanced transfer policies also implemented as a component of the revised admissions requirement.

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©2001 University System of Georgia Board of Regents