Letter: GPA policy would hurt minority students

Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007 | 7:25 a.m.

The regents are considering an increase in the grade-point average for admission to the two state universities. I wonder just what are they attempting to accomplish with this move?

If there were established empirical evidence that GPA is an indication of academic performance/success, I might accept this decision. But it is common knowledge that teachers in high schools sometimes inflate students' grades, thereby increasing GPAs.

If the regents are raising the GPA to present the universities as elite institutions, then they are using the wrong approach. I think that the regents must look at the national/international reputation of the faculty. A great university is recognized not on students alone, but also on the caliber of the teaching faculty.

I graduated from a state college long ago, before GPA was a determining factor in admissions. I am a minority, and I was successful in obtaining advanced degrees at a major university. I was on the admission committee in the graduate division of a major university , and there is evidence that GPAs, MCATs, GMATs (standardized admission exams) and so forth are not an indication of performance for minority students in higher education.

I would suggest the regents survey the performance of the minority students admitted to UNLV and UNR during the past 10 years and use this report on their academic success/failure to set a standard for admissions.

The unfortunate result of the policy under review by the regents will be a denial of an educational opportunity for far too many minority students. If given the opportunity to attend UNLV or UNR, they would become college graduates and visible citizens in a variety of occupations in our state and set an example for other minority students. And they would be a credit to the Nevada university system .

Hughie E. Mills, Las Vegas