To better prepare Louisiana students, the Board of Regents has decided to increase admission standards at all Louisiana colleges and universities by Fall 2005. In Fall 2005, students who enter Nicholls will be required to meet certain criteria. They must have completed the regents’ Core Academic Curriculum (currently the courses required for the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students) and must have either a high school grade point average equal to or greater than 2.0, an American Collegiate Testing score equal to or greater than 20, or placement in the top 50 percent of their high school class upon graduation, Kelly Rodrigue, director of enrollment services and registrar, said. Also, students will only be allowed to take one remedial course.

“The policy is somewhat dynamic. It is part of the Master Plan (for Postsecondary Education) for the Board of Regents, which continues to be a work in progress,” Becky Durocher, director of admissions, said.

“It was necessary (that the regents) come up with some sort of format to make sure that each institution was working at its highest level of efficiency,” Durocher said.

Nicholls has already begun implementing this program for students wishing to obtain a bachelor’s degree. Incoming freshmen for the 2001-2002 school year were required to meet one of the requirements of a high school GPA of 2.25, an ACT score

equal to or greater than 20, or placement in the top 50 percent of their graduating high school class. Students who did not meet these criteria were allowed to enter Nicholls through an associate degree program, Durocher said.

In 2005, students who do not meet the criteria will not be eligible for immediate admission, she said.

“So (those students) will not have the opportunity to enter even for an associate’s degree. At that point, if they do not meet our criteria, they will have to first go to a community college,” Durocher said.

Raising the admission standards is beneficial because it increases the quality of students at the University, Rodrigue said.

“When (a University) implements higher admission standards, long-term (it) will have a better population because people are going to have to move to this if they are choosing to come to college.”

“I think it is a lot about trying to build the Louisiana educational system,” Rodrigue said.

With Louisiana universities raising their standards, there will be a shifting, Durocher said. Students who have to take more than one developmental course will have to go to a community college before applying to Nicholls. Students who may not be able to go to Louisiana State University or University of Louisiana-Lafayette may apply to Nicholls with better hopes of admission, she said.

However, Rodrigue said, “I do not think we will substantially benefit from LSU raising their standards, because we do service a local population more than anything else.”

“If someone wants to get into LSU badly enough, they are going to continue their preparation and raise their scores to get in,” he said.

The regents sent letters to high school freshmen explaining the increased standards, Rodrigue said.

Educating high school teachers, counselors, parents and students now is important so that when the students begin applying to colleges, they will know what to expect, Durocher said.

Area high schools are taking the necessary steps to ensure their students will not fall behind when the 2005 standards are enforced, Kris Guillot, guidance counselor for 11th and 12th graders at E. D. White High School, said.

While parents and students are being informed of the increased standards and are taking more interest in scheduling, no changes have been made in the curriculum at E. D. White High School, Guillot said.

“It has not really hit the students yet,” Guillot said.

Because there will be fewer remedial classes taught at a University student level beginning in Fall, 2005, Nicholls is developing creative summer courses that will aid students who placed in developmental English and math courses to prepare them for college-level courses, Durocher said.

“High school faculty members from math and English departments from local high schools are working with math and English teachers here to make sure they are preparing students for college-level work,” Rodrigue said.

The policy outlined by the Board of Regents does not take into consideration home-schooled students, international students, and students from non-accredited high schools, Durocher said.

“We know that we are going to have to make accommodations for those students,” she said.

Current Nicholls students support the changes as a effort to better the University.

“I support the changes because it will keep everyone out who may not be college material. It will also encourage people to work harder to get into college,” Britt Vallot, fine arts junior from Gretna said.

Interested students and parents can attend an information session at Nicholls on May 11 where a representative from the

Board of Regents will be present to answer questions.