COUNTYWIDE : Hearing Scheduled on Admission Tests

A court hearing is scheduled today on a suit filed by the California community college system that challenges a new federal rule requiring all prospective students without a high school diploma to take admission tests.

The rule, which would affect the 107 California community colleges including those in Ventura, Oxnard and Moorpark, was to go into effect Jan. 1. On Jan. 2, a federal judge delayed enforcement of the rule in the California schools citing legal problems.

“The biggest problem is that, in California, we have an open-door policy, so the laws of the state provide that we do exactly those things that the rule is telling us not to do,” said John Tallman, vice chancellor of instruction in student services for the Ventura County Community College District.

Another problem is that prior court findings have ruled that colleges cannot use a single test for placement.

Drafted by the federal Department of Education, the rule is aimed at decreasing the rate of defaults on student loans by lowering the number of people who take out a guaranteed student loan then drop out of school and never repay the debt.

If the federal rule is upheld, students without a diploma who enter community colleges after Feb. 4 would be the first to have to take a standardized test.

The Ventura County Community College District is compiling a separate file of students who do not have high school diplomas, so the percentage of those potentially affected by the rule is not yet known, Tallman said.