Kansas University officials are stressing quality over quantity when it comes to admitting students, a new report shows.

Kansas University students hustle between classes along Jayhawk Boulevard in front of Hoch Auditorium. According to a report released by the Kansas Board of Regents, KU turned away the most applicants among state universities this fall.

Among the state’s public universities, KU officials admitted the smallest percentage of students who didn’t meet the state’s qualified admissions criteria last fall, according to a report released by the Kansas Board of Regents.

The qualified admissions guidelines allow each university to admit up to 10 percent of freshman class members who do not meet guidelines in ACT scores, grade-point averages or class rank. KU admitted only 1.4 percent.

“The University of Kansas feels students must meet one of the admission requirements to be successful here,” said Lisa Pinamonti, director of admissions and scholarships.

The qualified admissions guidelines, which took effect during the 2001-2002 school year, require students to have a 21 on the ACT, have a 2.0 GPA in a specific curriculum or be in the top third of their high school class.

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Each university can decide individually how many “exceptions” it will admit, up to 10 percent. The fall 2003 figures ranged from KU’s low of 1.4 percent to a high of 9.5 percent at Emporia State University.

KU’s total was 0.57 percent in 2001 and 1.9 percent in 2002. Pinamonti said she expected KU’s fall 2004 figures to again be around 1.4 percent.

She said KU admitted only exception students who appealed their rejection from KU. Most of the time, she said the students decided not to take a class prescribed in the regents’ curriculum and didn’t meet the minimum ACT score or class rank. A committee of faculty and staff decides which exceptions to admit.

Pinamonti said KU’s data showed students who were admitted as exceptions were more likely to drop out. Admitting fewer exceptions also strengthens the academic profile of the incoming freshman class, which some ranking organizations use in their systems.

KU turned away the most applicants among state universities this fall, according to a report released by the Kansas Board of Regents.

That was the reason Wichita State University cut the number of exceptions it admitted this fall. In fall 2003, WSU admitted 196 students who fell in the exception category; this fall, that number was 43.

“There are other alternatives available to students,” said WSU President Don Beggs. “A lot of those students were coming in and going right back out at the end of the fall or spring. We used to call that the revolving door.”

Robert Masters, vice president for academic affairs for the regents, said higher education officials were pleased with the qualified admissions law.

Among other benefits, the requirements have allowed universities to phase out remedial education courses.

“They’re basically out of that business as a result of qualified admissions,” Masters said. “We’ve done away with developmental education at the universities.”