It’s a sobering thought — especially to new Kansas University students and their parents — that KU officials expect about one in five students to leave the university by the end of their freshmen year.

That figure isn’t new, but it came up again recently in a conversation about the possibility of making admissions standards for KU more stringent. University officials say that raising admissions requirements will make sure students are better prepared for the academic rigors of university work.

The Kansas Board of Regents apparently agrees that some changes are in order and successfully lobbied the Kansas Legislature last session to gain the authority to make those changes without legislative approval. The regents contend that they are more in touch with higher education in the state and more able to address specific admissions standards. That may be true, but altering those standards is something the regents should approach with caution.

It took a long time for the state to accept even the minimal admissions standards currently in place for Kansas high school graduates. Our populist tradition argued in favor of any Kansas resident having at least a chance to pursue a university education. But as taxpayer support for state universities has eroded, universities have become more aggressive in getting control of how their limited resources are spent.

Sending unprepared students to state universities is a waste of university resources as well as being a frustrating and expensive situation for students who fail to measure up. Such students shouldn’t be denied a university education, but it makes better sense for them to improve their academic skills at a community college before taking on university work.

A likely tactic would be for the regents to focus first on higher admissions standards for one or more of the state’s “big three” universities — KU, Kansas State and Wichita State. In a recent visit to the Journal-World, Gov. Mark Parkinson talked about the importance of a state having one or two universities whose research and academic accomplishments were nationally recognized. Such universities feed the state’s stature and economic vitality in important ways.

One way to take a state university to what Parkinson called “the next level” is to set admissions standards that attract top students and allow the university to direct maximum resources to achieving true excellence in selected academic and research areas. The state’s network of vocational-technical schools, community colleges and state universities serves individual students, but the state’s top university or universities also must provide the research and expertise that feeds the state’s economic future. Success in those areas fuels itself by making universities more able to attract top students and faculty members.

Marlesa Roney, KU vice provost for student success, makes a great point when she says, “The goal is to graduate from KU, not just to be admitted.” Admitting students who can’t handle the work that will lead them to a university degree really serves no one.

Setting the bar a little higher, at least for some state universities, makes sense. Perhaps Kansas high schools will take higher admissions standards as a challenge to make sure their graduates measure up.