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University Admissions Will Get Even Tougher

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By ADAM EMERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 6, 2008

TAMPA - Florida's public universities raised admission standards higher than ever last year, and area high school guidance counselors learned Friday that the bar for entry will go even higher.
Admissions officers warned 600 guidance counselors assembled at the University of South Florida that budget cuts would further erode recruitment efforts and increase competition for a limited number of freshmen seats.

Universities expect slightly fewer college-bound seniors than the record number of graduates who applied for entry last year, but an ever-tightening budget leaves little room for growth.

"This year, we are expecting to scrutinize each application harder than in the past," said Mike Powell, associate director of admissions at the University of Florida.

Scrutiny already was heightened. On the first day of classes last week, UF enrolled about 50 fewer freshmen than last year. In Tampa, USF froze its freshman class at last year's count of 3,500, and Florida State University cut its freshman class by about 1,000.

This year, universities expect further cuts to the money they receive from the state, so they will keep next fall's freshman class at about the same levels or reduce them.

For nearly every school, this fall's freshman class was its smartest ever, a result of the tightened admission standards.

A higher bar for entry, however, will only send more qualified students to community colleges, and the competition for university seats will heighten anxiety, guidance counselors say.

"When I was in high school, you could play around," said Sue Breithaupt, a counselor at Lake Weir High School in Ocala visiting USF on Friday. "These kids can't play around anymore."

Breithaupt and others said they heard the same message from admissions officers at all the state's public universities: encourage students to take more Advancement Placement or International Baccalaureate courses, and encourage them before their senior year.

"We're starting to get the message to our freshmen and sophomores," said Debbie Landesberg, college and career resource specialist at Manatee High School in Bradenton. "They can't wait till their junior or senior year."

Today's seniors have seen their older friends and siblings fail to get into the college of their choice, said Kelli Kennedy, academic adviser at Braden River High School in Bradenton.

"There's no room for senioritis," Kennedy said.

There wasn't last year, either. USF, for one, accepted fewer than half of its applicants and placed a record 1,300 prospective freshmen on its wait list.

At UF, the average weighted grade-point average of incoming freshmen this fall ranged from a 4.0 to a 4.4.

"The demand for space and the space we have are in direct conflict," said John Yancey, admissions director at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

"The budget has really changed the face and complexity of education in the state of Florida."

A souring economy isn't limiting just seats, however.

Admissions officials, while pitching the worth of their schools at USF on Friday, also told guidance counselors that budget cuts would limit the number of recruitment trips, open houses and college fairs they've sponsored in the past.

"The budget," Powell of UF said, "is a killer right now."

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

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