Regents approve higher math admissions standards

In an effort to cut down on the number of students taking remedial math classes, the Board of Regents voted to change admissions policies so that undergraduate applicants are required to take an additional fourth year of math to gain acceptance.

Officials maintained that when students do not take a math class their senior year, they are more likely to need a brush-up on basic principles. These students often perform poorly on math entrance exams, causing them to place into remedial classes and costing the universities thousands of dollars to fund them.

The previous policy required students to take three years of math with three designated courses — Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II. Now applicants will be required to take a math class their senior year of high school, regardless of whether the three designated courses were already completed.

But some university faculty said tightening the math requirements would not solve the problem of a lack of math proficiency among students. Some 50 professors, like math professor Jerome Dancis, recently signed a petition urging the state to raise its high school math standards.

The Board of Regents, a 17-member panel of gubernatorial appointees who oversee the university system, voted unanimously last Friday to change the policy, which will go into effect for students who are entering the ninth grade in 2011, provided a provision was added giving universities the flexibility to make conditional exceptions, according to Regent Patricia Florestano.

It was determined shortly after the vote that universities already have that power.

"There might be someone who is special that the university wants to bring in but who doesn't fit those requirements," Florestano said. "We wanted to give the universities flexibility to do so. We agreed and voted in favor of the change, provided that that policy was in place. But the universities already have that ability."

The next step is for the universities to work with the Maryland State Department of Education to identify math courses in local school districts that will meet the new requirements, said Teri Hollander, the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs for the university system.

Officials are also setting up a website to include information about the new policy, including what courses would satisfy the requirements.

Hollander said she plans to send out a letter to all school districts in the coming weeks informing them know what the new conditions.

Remedial classes at state institutions will still be offered to students who want or need to take them.

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