MADISON, Wis.
A proposed rewrite of the freshmen admissions policy for the University of Wisconsin System would de-emphasize class rank and give greater weight to nonacademic factors such as race and income.
The plan, to be considered by the UW System Board of Regents on Thursday and Friday, would also no longer encourage prospective students to take the ACT college entrance exam instead of the SAT. Instead, ACT or SAT scores would be given equal consideration.
The admissions change would follow a national trend in which university officials are increasingly considering factors such as income, race, work experience and leadership skills. They say academic rankings alone often fail to predict which students will succeed in college and they prefer this more individualistic review.
But conservatives sharply criticized the proposal after it became public earlier this year. They have questioned whether the policy would shut out academically qualified students in favor of minority and low-income students.
UW system officials say the changes are minor and reflect current practices at the system’s 13 four-year universities and its 13 two-year colleges. They say the changes are meant to increase diversity and bring the policy in line with court decisions saying race can only be considered in admissions as one of many factors.
The regents’ action would set a framework that UW institutions would use as they create their own, more specific, admissions policies, says spokesman Dave Giroux.
