In an effort to strengthen admission standards, California State University's trustees are expected to approve a resolution today allowing only college preparatory classes to be counted in GPAs considered for college admission. It also will encourage students to do well in their academics. You can't think wood shop is college prep. It's no substitute for those four years of English and three years of math. Just last week, state policy at a meeting of the Education Commission of the State in Minneapolis agreed one of their top priorities was to strengthen high school students' preparation for college.
Requirements currently vary greatly.
For example, high school students wanting to attend the University of Oregon have to earn a special high school degree, one that includes college preparatory classes. But West Virginia University calculates all of a high school student's grades to determine admission. The GPA now used at CSU to determine admission to the university's 23 campuses is based on all courses completed in the last three years of high school. Under the resolution, only college preparatory requirements would be counted, except for those taken during the freshman year, said Allison Jones, CSU's vice chancellor for academic affairs. If approved, the new GPA calculations would take effect for this school year's incoming high school freshman, Jones said.