In recent weeks, high schools from Athens' surrounding counties have received notices that local admission standards will change for Ohio University's 2009 academic year, after administrators said the current policy is a disadvantage to students.
The current admission policy requires students from Athens and contiguous counties to have only 14 college-preparatory courses instead of the 16 required for general students, said Jean Lewis, interim director of Undergraduate Admissions.
Students are not as prepared when they come to OU, Lewis said, and have to take University College classes, which other students can skip.
(The lower requirements) are supposed to give (students) an edge because they are in the area serviced by Ohio University
said Molly Jewett, guidance counselor at Trimble High School. It is a disadvantaged area and they're supposed to give students the opportunity to go to a four-year college.
The local admission policy began in 1985, and until 1996, any local student who graduated from high school could attend OU.
In January, Provost Kathy Krendl and the Assistant Deans Council changed the requirements to 16 college-prep courses to ensure college readiness according to the revised policy.
The different admissions criteria have created inequities with students from the region sometimes experiencing disadvantages as a result of the differential admissions standards
Krendl said in an e-mail.
Along with the 16-class requirement for 2009, local students must graduate from an accredited or chartered school, pass the state-mandated proficiency test and have at least a 2.5 GPA. However, though local students must have an ACT of 17 or an SAT of 810, general admission requires a minimum ACT of 21 and an SAT of 990.
But, according to the Fall 2000 class profile, local students had higher test scores and higher rank averages than the general OU class.
For example, local students had an average class rank of 75, an ACT of 24.2 and SAT of 1123. The general OU class had an average class rank of 71, an ACT of 23.7 and SAT of 1106.
A Cutler Scholars award will be given to an academically gifted Athens High School student beginning in the fall of 2006, said Jack Ellis, vice president emeritus for development and associate director of the Cutler Scholars Program.
Currently, 35 OU students receive about $80,000 from the award, which covers tuition, room, board, a book allowance, summer internships and a study abroad opportunity.
Also, an Athens student will be funded by the newly created J. Warren McClure-Stephen H. Fuller/Manasseh Cutler Scholars endowment. McClure's wife, Lois, gave the university a $350,000 gift in honor of her husband and his friend Fuller who went to Athens High School and OU together.
During Fall Quarter, OU had 2,126 students from Athens County and the surrounding six counties, according to OU's Office of Institutional Research.
The concern with the current policy is that OU allows students who might be at a disadvantage --or need to be watched more closely -at the university, Maynard said. But it is worth giving students a shot because many of them will succeed.
What concerns me more is the university changing its standards all around to accept more people
he said, referring to the fact that sometimes OU accepts students with lower-than-minimum test score standards to increase enrollment.
Though the guidelines have been changed, the policy still states that the Undergraduate Admissions Office can make exceptions and will provide counseling for students who want to attend OU.
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Carolyn Casey
