Tech will require a 2.2 grade point average on core subjects or standing in the top 35 percent of the class. In reality, even LSU, UNO and Tech turn away few. Tech accepts 98 percent of its applicants. All but about 2 percent of this year's entering freshman class at ULM would meet the selective admission standards to be in place next fall, according to data compiled by the university's standards committee. As it stands, the state's public colleges and universities are competing for the same students.
College recruiters are now directors or deans or even vice presidents of enrollment management.
Their job is not to select the students who will receive a turn-down letter but to sell the campus to moms and dads. Former Tech President F. Jay Taylor proved how far the appearance of buildings and grounds could go toward impressing parents. His successor, Dan Reneau, has shown that raising admissions standards just a notch above the competition proves an equally good draw. But they can provide just as good an undergraduate education as the big boys. And that's what they were designed to do in the first place.