Higher UNLV entrance grades criticized

Jennifer Knight

Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2001 | 8:50 a.m.

A proposal to raise university admission standards in Nevada is drawing fire from minority communities, which say it will prevent Hispanics and blacks from obtaining a post-secondary education.

The plan, if approved, would include a two-step process: The University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the University of Nevada, Reno would raise the minimum grade point average for admission to 2.75 by 2003. By 2005, a 3.0 GPA would be required for university admission.

Currently, students must graduate from high school with a 2.5 GPA to be admitted to UNLV and UNR.

"It is clear that by raising the bar, you are going to eliminate certain people, mainly minorities," said Thomas Rodriguez, a consultant with the Reynaldo L. Martinez Institute for Leadership and Research. "Why not just make it a 4.0 GPA? Then, we really get the brightest. Taken to its logical conclusion, this is an elitist attitude."

The Board of Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada is scheduled to review the state's admission policy during a meeting in Fallon Thursday and Friday.

Critics of the proposal say it is unfair to have scheduled the meeting in such a remote area of the state. Fallon is a town of about 6,400 about 60 miles east of Reno.

Board Chairwoman Thalia Dondero said she will suggest that a decision on the new academic standards be postponed until the Dec. 17 board meeting in Las Vegas. This would allow more of the state's residents to comment on the issue, she said.

"I just think that out of fairness, we should give those who are affected an opportunity to be at the meeting," Dondero said.

Groups representing minorities were expected today to hold a press conference to state their opposition to the plan. Among those expected to attend were Las Vegas City Councilman Lawrence Weekly and Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas.

UNLV officials, however, dispute the claims of minority leaders who say their membership would be disproportionately affected by the new academic rules.

A comparison of data on the 2000 freshman class shows there would be little difference in the percentage of students admitted under the current 2.5 GPA requirement and the proposed 3.0 GPA, said Mike Sauer, UNLV's associate vice president of administration.

Of those admitted to UNLV last year, 8 percent were black, 10 percent were Hispanic and 1.3 percent were of American Indian descent.

If the same class had been admitted under the proposed new standards, those numbers would vary only slightly. About 6.3 percent would be black, 10.6 percent would be Hispanic and 1.2 percent would be Indian.

"As you can see, (the numbers) are very similar ..." Sauer said.

Although the relative percentages would vary only slightly, the actual number of students who apply and are rejected under the proposal are not yet known, said Andres Ramirez, co-chairman of the Hispanic Coalition.

UNLV receives several advantages by upping the standards, officials say.

One, for example, is that the school would become known as being more selective. Another would be the opportunity to curtail, or even eliminate, remedial courses, which cost the system an estimated $3 million to $11 million annually, Regent Mark Alden said.

"We're running out of state money," Alden said. "We're facing capped enrollment. Universities need to be universities. The big mistake we're making is that the school system isn't giving these kids the skills they need."

Some critics of the new standards suspect that school officials are raising the bar at UNLV in an attempt to fill classrooms at the new Nevada State College at Henderson.

"If they don't have any confidence in the university's reputation the way it is, how much worse is Henderson State College going to be?" Ramirez said.

Standards were last raised in 1991, when the board approved increasing the minimum GPA required for admission to 2.5, from 2.3.