Tightening of Admission Standards Leads to Drop in Black Enrollments at the University of Nevada

Beginning next year, admissions officials at the University of Nevada had planned to require that high school seniors who apply to either of the university’s main campuses at Reno or Las Vegas will have achieved at least a 3.0 or B average while in high school.

But new data released by the university shows that black and Hispanic enrollments have declined since 2006, when the minimum grade point average for students who were considered for admission was raised from 2.5 to 2.75. At the Las Vegas campus, black enrollments dropped by a whopping 26 percent after the first increase in admission standards.

Officials believe that a further increase in the minimum grade point average will further reduce ethnic diversity on each campus. Administrators at both campuses are calling for the board of regents to postpone the increase in entrance requirements for at least one year.

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