Admissions policies still too lax

University System of Georgia freshmen's SAT scores fare well nationally but could be higher, officials say

Web posted October 12, 2000

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By Shannon Womble
Morris News Service

ATLANTA - Georgia's public colleges have become more selective about the students they let in, but they should become pickier still, according to an analysis by the University System of Georgia released Wednesday.

The analysis presented to the University System's Board of Regents is the first result of a massive study in how each of the 34 state colleges and universities is run.

Incoming freshmen at Georgia State University in Atlanta and the University of Georgia in Athens have SAT scores comparable with those of students at similar universities throughout the country, according to the report. Although both schools average composite scores above 1,000, system officials said the scores can still climb higher.

Last year, freshmen at the Georgia Institute of Technology, for example, averaged a composite SAT score of 1,304, about 150 points higher than the University of Florida or Purdue.

``The competitiveness, it jumps off the page at you, especially Georgia Tech,'' Chancellor Stephen Portch said. ``We need to come back to this, though. It is obvious our admission policy is working, but we need to see how we fare after this year. We can get even better.''

This school year marks the final phase of a five-year effort to slowly raise the admission standards of all 34 institutions in the University System of Georgia. Schools now require higher SAT scores and have raised the minimum grade-point average. Officials have also placed greater emphasis on the number of college-preparatory classes students complete.

``SAT scores and high-school grade-point averages together are the best predictors of first-year college grades,'' said Daniel Papp, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University System.

Three schools, the state's majority-black universities, didn't fare as well as their peers on SAT scores. Freshmen at Albany State, Fort Valley State and Savannah State universities had lower SAT scores than other freshmen at comparable schools in the country. But all three institutions performed at or above the levels of other historically black schools nationally.

Joseph Silver, vice president of academic affairs at Savannah State, said he welcomes any suggestions that come as a result of the report but added the information is not new to the school.

``Our issue isn't that we're not able to recruit students with high SATs. Our issue is getting them to enroll,'' he said.

Mr. Silver said the school lacks sufficient scholarship funds to make it attractive to top students who get more lucrative offers from schools in the country.

``Students are shopping now. It's not about whether you're a predominantly black or predominantly white university. It's about whether you're predominantly good,'' he said.

The first portion of results from the 600-page document was presented to the Board of Regents on Wednesday at South Georgia College in Douglas. Each month the board will be presented with another segment of data from the massive report, rating the system and its schools on hundreds of indicators.

The board will use the data to shape policy and goals for the system in coming years.

``Clearly we want to continue to work with those institutions, and the beauty of having all this data is that we are able to go in and take a closer look at what's going on,'' Dr. Portch said. ``Coming out of this we will likely form a group to look at comparable schools across the country and find best practices, and what we can unabashedly steal from them.''

Reach Shannon Womble at (404) 589-8424.

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