CSULB May Limit Special Admissions : Education: Last year’s dropout rate approached 75% among these freshmen, who were admitted despite failing to meet minimum entrance requirements.

Cal State Long Beach officials are considering whether to reduce the number of freshmen who are admitted despite failing to meet minimum entrance requirements.

About 22% of last year’s freshmen did not meet minimum standards for admission, and the percentage has been increasing in recent years.

A faculty report has suggested that these special admissions be limited to 15% of the freshman class since these students are more likely to drop out. Nearly three-fourths of the students who failed to meet admission standards dropped out, compared with about half of the students who met admissions standards.

The study also suggested stepping up recruitment efforts to attract better students, and providing more counseling and support services to students to reduce dropout rates.

President Robert Maxson has set up a special committee of administrators, faculty and staff members and a student to discuss how to improve services to new students. The committee will also consider whether to limit special admissions.

The initial report that recommended a 15% limit on special admissions was ordered earlier in the year by university Provost Karl Anatol after a national survey revealed that Cal State Long Beach students were taking longer to graduate than the average student in public universities. The survey found that 52% of the students nationwide graduated within six years, while only 36% of the CSULB students graduated in that time.

Any cutback could be controversial, however, since one of the goals of special admissions is to increase minority enrollment. About 85% of the students admitted under special circumstances last fall were minority. About two-thirds of the total freshman class last fall was minority.

Some professors and college deans say they support the report’s recommendations. They argue that the university is accepting too many students who are unprepared to do college-level work.

“If we bring in (students) who are ill-prepared to be here and we simply flunk them out, we haven’t helped them and we haven’t helped the state,” said C. J. Walter, dean of CSULB’s College of Business Administration.

But some administrators say the university has an obligation to make exceptions to give these students a chance to earn a college degree.

“It’s the university’s responsibility to serve the communities that support it,” said Doug Robinson, vice president for Student Services. “If they come from economically disadvantaged communities, so be it.”

Instead of closing the door on such applicants, the university should provide more tutoring and counseling, Robinson said.

Maxson said he believed that a 15% limit on special admissions would be reasonable. He also argued, however, that the university should be prepared to help students who haven’t met admissions requirements. Maxson said the university should “provide some support service to help (such students) get up to speed.”

In the 1994-95 budget, Maxson set aside $50,000 to make more faculty available to advise freshmen.

Alma Salazar, student body vice president, said the university should offer more tutoring for weaker students rather than limiting the number of special admissions.

“There’s a lot of students who are borderline (when they decide) whether to come to a university,” Salazar said. “People who come in through special admissions see that they have potential to succeed in the university.”

The percentage of special admissions among the university’s freshman class grew from 11% in fall, 1989, to 22% last fall. In actual numbers, growth is not so dramatic since the total number of freshmen declined from 2,579 to 1,566 in that five-year period, officials said.

Special admissions in freshman classes throughout the 20-campus California State University system rose from 13% in 1989 to 18% last fall.

Freshmen must have a high school diploma, a C average in college-preparatory courses and a B average in all subjects. Students who have below a B average could meet admission standards by high scores on standardized tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Adela De La Torre, chairwoman of CSULB’s Chicano and Latino Studies department, said administrators should be trying to bring in more students from all backgrounds, not fewer. “We’re in a declining enrollment state. You can’t be that picky,” she said.