At The Texas A&M University Board of Regents meeting on Aug. 8, Tarleton State University’s new admissions standards were approved.

“The value of a Tarleton degree is enhanced since the university is becoming known for being selective in student admissions,” Dr. David Weissenburger, associate vice president for enrollment management said. “You won’t hear someone say, ‘Apply to Tarleton, they will accept anyone.’  Current students will see a change in the quality of the student body as a result of the new standards.  For example, there are now more honors classes and honors students than ever before.  We know that Tarleton’s reputation is making a positive impression when students search for a job after they graduate.”

Under the new standards, high school students in the bottom 39 percent of their class will not be admitted; students ranked in the 40 to 49 percent bracket must have scores of 950 or higher on the SAT or 20 or higher on the ACT; and students in the top half of their class must provide either SAT or ACT scores in order to be admitted.

“Our admission standards were minimal,” Weissenburger said. ” We needed to change this situation.  The university needed to be better prepared for projected changes in student demographics, more competition from for-profit colleges and universities, less state support in the budget, educating under-represented student populations, and increased accountability for student success.  The leadership of Tarleton recognized that strategic enrollment planning was the key to addressing all of these needs.”

For the past four years, a consulting firm, Noel-Levitz, has been helping Tarleton change their enrollment plan from “mostly by chance in terms of who applied for admission” to a more strategic plan.

“As a result of becoming more strategic, Tarleton is now engaging in enrollment by design instead of enrollment by chance.  We are using a data driven decision-making approach, researching and implementing best practices, and making a very strong commitment to student success,” Weissenburger said. “Noel-Levitz has conducted research and identified important factors to consider in the admission of students.  These factors relate to how much a student will likely find Tarleton to be a good fit and to find success here.  It makes sense for us to pay attention to these factors in our admission practices.  It’s fairer to prospective students to not admit them when we know there is a high probability that they won’t succeed here.  The Academic Standards Committee reviewed and analyzed data related to admissions to make specific recommendations on what the new standards should be and projected their potential impact.  That’s how we arrived at the new standards for admission.”

According to the Noel-Levitz website, the project has resulted in freshman enrollment increase 19 percent in the first year, beating Tarleton’s goal of a 5 percent increase.

“The success of Tarleton’s strategic enrollment planning is evidenced by the increasing numbers of students applying, being admitted, and enrolling at the university,” Weissenburger said. “New records have been set for enrollment in the last three consecutive years.  In fall 2012 we had more than 10,000 students for the first time in the university’s history.  This fall’s enrollment is exceeding last year’s and will make it the fourth year in a row that a new record for the number of students will be set.  Clearly the new admissions standards are working effectively for Tarleton and its students.”