NEW COLLEGE ADMISSION STANDARDS REQUIRE PLANNING

High school students better plan well the courses they select today if they hope to attend college because admission standards are on the rise.

The increased requirements, or core curriculum, reflect a desire for students to succeed. With money tight for higher education, universities no longer can afford to spend money teaching secondary courses, said Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast Missouri State University.

"We know what students really need to be successful," Wallhausen said. "We are trying to get people ready to do the work they'll be expected to do."

Fred Snider, dean of admissions and records at Southeast, said Southeast "really started down this road in 1985."

"What we're really doing with our core curriculum is strengthening what was established a few years ago," he said.

The ACT Corp., which conducts a college entrance exam, has studied students entering college.

"Those students who have completed a core curriculum do better in college than those who don't," said Snider. "It's not a surprising result. We know if students are better prepared in high school they are more likely to do well in college," Snider said.

In January Southeast Missouri State University's Board of Regents added a third course in mathematics and a unit in visual or performing arts to the list of courses high school graduates must take to be admitted to Southeast.

In addition to the new core curriculum requirement, high school graduates must make a score of at least 18 on the ACT college entrance examination and achieve a high school grade-point average of 2.0 or better.

Southeast officials said the new admission requirements take effect in 1995 at Southeast, and similar requirements are expected to be in place at other public colleges and universities in Missouri by 1996.

By 2001 a third unit of science will be added to the core curriculum requirements.

The University of Missouri system will raise the requirements for freshman enrollment, effective in fall 1997. The new requirements apply to high school graduates wishing to enter any of the four University of Missouri campuses Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla or St. Louis.

Students must have four units of English, four units of mathematics, three units of science, three units of social studies, one unit of fine arts, and two units of a single, foreign language.

University of Missouri system President George Russell will hold 10 regional meetings to discuss the new freshman admissions requirements. The first meeting is Thursday at 7 p.m. at Sikeston High School.

While the new standards are still several years away, Wallhausen said high school students and their parents must know what will be expected.

"Students just starting high school will have a chance to plan their courses," he said. "You can't spring this on seniors and say you should have had these courses. We do have to give the schools and students notice."

Full implementation of the core at Southeast is for fall 1995. "We're a year ahead of the rest of the state on this," Wallhausen said.

Some institutions are planning stricter admission requirements, depending on each school's mission.

Jerry Witvoet, counselor at Cape Girardeau Central High School, said students must begin making decisions earlier as sophomores or even freshmen.

"I think it makes planning earlier that much more important in order to get the required classes for the particular schools they might be interested in attending," Witvoet said.

"In the past they might have been able to put off that decision a year or two. At this point they really can't afford to, especially in critical areas like math and science."

Witvoet said he and other counselors are discussing ways to get information to parents and students about the impending changes.

Snider said: "Our admissions staff is always trying to relay to high school counselors and principals and superintendents what the changes are. We have always urged students to take these courses. Unfortunately, given a choice, students don't always choose a college preparatory course."

It is in a student's best interest to take the courses in high school; not only are they better prepared for college but it's cheaper.

"If they have to come to us, and we do offer some summer courses, or a community college for say a mathematics course, they will pay a whole lot more for what is essentially a high school course," Snider said.