Across the state of North Dakota, the graduation rate for college students is only 48 percent. After finding out this statistic, newly appointed North Dakota Universities System Chancellor Hamid Shirvani decided to take action.
Shirvani thought that the reason this graduation rate is low is because colleges are accepting students that are not ready for college. To fix this problem, Shirvani has proposed that colleges raise their standards state-wide.
“These changes are in response to a need to address some challenges that are being experienced in our state as well as on a national level on the educational spectrum,” Shirvani said.
The increase in standards is to hopefully better prepare students who attend college.
“I think it’s good they’re doing a better screening process,” Principal Gary Clark said. “Colleges accept almost anybody and then they come back and tell us that our students aren’t prepared.”
The new criteria include the student’s ACT score, GPA, their high school rank, and the number of courses taken. Usually, colleges look only at ACT scores.
Some colleges, such as Minnesota State University of Moorhead (MSUM) and North Dakota State University (NDSU), these colleges have already begun looking at the student as a whole.
“I’ve been telling kids that it’s not just your ACTs so don’t just let your grades go down the tubes and think that you are still going to get in because you rocked the ACT,” Counselor Julie Hersch said. “That’s not who they want.”
With the new criteria, students need to be more aware of their high school career from the first day of their ninth grade year. Students can prepare better for college by taking dual credit and advanced placement (AP) classes and learning organization skills, Hersch said. Shirvani also notes how students can’t come down with a bad case of senioritis.
“One of the best things a high school student can do to adjust to the model is ensure their senior year curriculum is one that is of quality,” Shirvani said. “Continue to expand learning and take challenging courses to prepare for college.”
Even if students take all of the right classes, stay organized, and always choose courses to challenge themselves, Hersch argues that the students in general are not ready for college.
“I think society keeps kids dependent and kids longer,” Hersch said. “So now when we’re sending them out when they’re 18, they’re not like an 18-year-old from 30 years ago. It’s not the same game. They really don’t know how to be independent at all.”
Due to the board being disconnected to the schools themselves, Hersch thinks that they are only focusing on the academic portion of learning and questions the reliability of these changes.
“I don’t know why they are doing it,” Hersch said. “Do the people that are actually making those decisions know what’s going on in a public high school? They worked in the public sector and they’re on boards where they make decisions, where they don’t have any information about what’s really happening in our buildings.”
Hersch said colleges need to do more to “wrap students up.” Whenever crisis is about to happen, the staff is there and willing to help the student achieve as much as possible.
According to Hersch, college-bound students have already begun what Shirvani has proposed. Because of this, she believes that some of these new standards may be unnecessary.
“They’re trying to put a Band-Aid on a sore that’s only half open,” Hersch said.