State universities’ qualified admissions standards aren’t working, a top Senate education official said.

“Before qualified admissions, we were admitting everyone who applied,” said John Vratil, R-Leawood, vice chairman of the Senate Education Committee. “After implementation, we’re still admitting almost everyone who has applied. What have we accomplished?”

The policy, which took effect in fall 2001, requires incoming freshmen from Kansas to meet one of the following criteria: earn a composite score of 21 or higher on the ACT, be in the top third of their graduating class or have at least a 2.0 grade-point average on a college-preparatory curriculum.

But each university is allowed to admit some students as exceptions. That group can be up to 10 percent of the university’s total enrollment.

During a joint meeting of the Legislative Educational Planning Committee and the Kansas Board of Regents, Vratil said he thought universities were granting too many exceptions.

The number of exceptions admitted in fall 2001 ranged from 0.57 percent — or 47 students — at Kansas University to 12.6 percent — or 164 students — at Emporia State University. Emporia State officials said communication errors had led them to admit more than the allowed 10 percent of exceptions during the first year.

“That means to me we really have no standards for admission because everyone who applied was admitted,” Vratil said.

Others defended the policy. Outgoing Rep. Ralph Tanner, R-Baldwin, said qualified admissions had raised the bar for incoming freshmen even with the 10 percent exception policy, because counselors were preparing students for college.

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“That 10 percent was clearly a ploy by those who thought there was a divine right of ascension to university status for every Kansan,” Tanner said.