BATON ROUGE, La. ― Southern University President Ronald Mason says the 134-year-old historically Black university needs higher entrance standards.
Others say that could be the death of an institution that traditionally has been all-embracing.
The discussion is just starting, Mason said. “I’m not saying we’re going to become Yale or Harvard, and there’s no plan in place yet; it’s just a vision.”
His vision is based on two facts: Louisiana has been raising standards for college admission and it’s been giving schools less public money, forcing them to rely more heavily on tuition to survive.
This means that state policy is causing a shift in Southern’s traditional model ― serving students who don’t have a lot of college options.
“Because we are more tuition dependent, we need to focus on students who are better prepared out of high school,” Mason said. “The state is going to higher standards, which means we have to get more rigorous over time.”
Mason anticipates a move to fewer students but higher tuition.
