Inequality Inherent In Guaranteed Admissions

It didn't take long for President Hogan to make his first mistake. On Nov. 14, 2007, President Hogan and Marc Herzog, the chancellor of the community college system in Connecticut, signed an agreement that unfairly benefits community college graduates. The agreement guarantees acceptance into UConn or any one of its branch campuses for anyone who earns an associate's degree from a Connecticut college provided that the students had a 3.0 grade point average in an approved major.

President Hogan stated that it is UConn's responsibility to open "our enrollment to more young people of Connecticut who are outstanding students, especially those from disadvantaged, minority and first-generation-attending-college families." Further, Hogan added that "public research universities have served as the 'stairway to success' for a large cohort of our population who do not have access to private colleges and universities for a variety of reasons. So this agreement helps us better fulfill this important part of UConn's mission to the people of this state."

Though the aims of the agreement are admirable, the plan is sorely misguided. The problem does not lie in that fact that the Storrs campus is overcrowded, or even with the misconception that community college students cannot handle the rigor of a four-year institution. Many people are forced to attend community college for a variety of reasons and many, if not most, are capable of competing at UConn. The main issue with this agreement is with the fairness. Students who arrive to UConn have been evaluated on more than just their grades. The application process includes essays, resumes outlining extracurricular activities, numerous recommendations and SAT scores. UConn advertises and prides itself on admitting only well-rounded individuals - GPA and book smarts are only part of the process. Community college graduates should be subject to similar scrutiny.

Under this new agreement, the community college graduates no longer have to submit tests of character. People with character issues are not automatically remedied by the fact that they attend and graduate community college with a 3.0 GPA. In short, graduating from a Connecticut community college does not automatically deem a person worthy of admittance to UConn.

This is not to say that many community college graduates would not be accepted to UConn based on their own credentials. It may in fact be unfair to evaluate them on the same standards as incoming freshman. Community college graduates are equivalent to transfer students who themselves still have to apply. It would be fairer to evaluate them on the same set of standards.

Despite the fact that this agreement will save money on administrative costs for the University, fairness must trump frugality. It is only fair to present students and future students from different backgrounds that graduates from community colleges across Connecticut be held to the standards that go above and beyond just a 3.0 GPA. This means that instead of guaranteed admission, the students should have to submit an application to the university just like everybody else.