While it is painful to deny or defer enrollment of students applying to UT, it is a consequence of the move that the university is making toward becoming a “destination environment” rather than an open-enrollment institution. Raising admissions standards, as three UT colleges have done this year, improves the university’s prestige and increases the value of a UT degree.
The 300 students deferred admission this semester may feel some resentment, but if they do as suggested, attending a community college for a semester to prepare themselves for the academic challenges of a university, they may well be seen walking among us on campus in the spring. Some say that these students, who are just below admission standards, should be admitted now to increase UT’s enrollment numbers and secure more subsidy funds this semester.
As Vice President for External Affairs Larry Burns pointed out, a semester of preparation will make these students more capable of succeeding at UT, improve the quality of the student body and serve the university better in the long run. It is advantageous for all that a student enroll a semester later and attend UT for three or four years, rather than enroll prematurely, fall behind, and fail to achieve his or her goals.
An increase of admission standards is a constructive action for the university to take at this time. A student body that produces a greater number of successful graduates grows in repute, making all UT graduates more valued in the marketplace. It is a process that will likely snowball; as standards rise and UT students become more successful as a whole, degree-seekers will be more likely to view UT as their first-choice school, rather than a fallback plan.
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There are concerns from the arts and humanities that the University, and State of Ohio, are placing too much emphasis and support for STEM programs, when in fact the demand and job growth in many of those fields may not be warranted. In fact several recent studies have shown that future job growth in the coming decades includes many non STEM fields such as accounting, business management, education, and law. Gee, if only there were some sort of independent newspaper that could look at the colleges of law, education and business... which was my whole point from the very beginning of this comment thread!!! The IC only covers the bitching that goes on in A & S and I think many would be shocked to know UT even had other colleges.