TSU's president calls for entrance standard

Photo: Dr. John M. Rudley, Ed. D, President, Texas Southern University.

All applicants now accepted but a large majority fail to graduate

Texas Southern University's new president wants to end the school's long-standing practice of accepting all applicants, no matter their academic background, saying the policy contributes to its alarmingly low graduation rate.

President John Rudley said the change is necessary to remake the state's largest historically black university, which has been on the ropes recently because of management missteps, sliding enrollment and bad press.

TSU requires only a passing mark on the high school equivalency test to qualify for admissions, and the low standard means the university is accepting far too many students who were not prepared for college work, Rudley said. "A university shouldn't have to accept anybody with a GED," Rudley said. "That means they didn't complete high school but they can come here without the same preparation as others and then be expected to compete."

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