New Texas Southern University President Looks to End Open Admissions

John Rudley recently became president of Texas Southern University, the historically black educational institution in Houston. In one of his first major decisions, Rudley announced that he wants to end the university’s traditional open admissions system.

In the past all students with a high school diploma or equivalency certificate were eligible for admission. Rudley believes that many students who enrolled at the university were not adequately prepared for college-level work. As a result, the university’s black student graduation rate is a dismally low 14 percent.

Dr. Rudley is currently conducting research on what admissions standards might be required. He has said that a high school grade point average of 2.5 and a score of 820 on the combined mathematics and reading sections of the SAT are standards that might be applied.