By Matthew Ladner
Pima Community College chancellor Roy Flores announced that he wants the college to consider new admissions requirements. What he had to say on the subject to his governing board was right on target:
Right now, the college does not require a high school diploma or its equivalent, a GED, or SAT scores that indicate that you’re ready for college. As a consequence, we’ve been accepting people who really aren’t ready.
And while the impulse may seem to be right—that is, to be ‘open door’ and to allow anyone who wants to walk in the doors to come to college—that’s not what ‘open door’ means.
‘Open door’ means that if you’ve completed the first 12 years in high school or can demonstrate that you’ve completed it in another fashion, or are ready for college, the door’s open.…We’ve accepted individuals who have really not been ready for college, who were not successful in high school and have not been able to bridge the gap between middle school and grade 13—that is, college readiness.
In 2009, Saturday Night Live described Arizona college and university admission standards as “slightly more selective than the Burger King Kids Club.” We need to do right by both students and taxpayers by raising our standards. I commend Chancellor Flores for his courage and intellectual honesty.
Learn More:
Goldwater Institute: Sacred Cow University Budget
Goldwater Institute: Please ignore the academic catastrophe behind the curtain
Arizona Daily Star: Pima chancellor wants new admissions rules
Dr. Matthew Ladner is vice president of research for the Goldwater Institute. Prior to joining Goldwater, Ladner was director of state projects at the Alliance for School Choice, where he provided support and resources for state-based school choice efforts. Ladner has written numerous studies on school choice, charter schools and special education reform. Ladner is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and received both a Masters and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Houston. Ladner previously served as director of the Center for Economic Prosperity at the Goldwater Institute and as vice president of policy and communications at Children First America. 
