(The Center Square) – Illinois state Rep. LaShawn Ford is singing the praises of a plan now floating in Springfield that seeks to make it easier for graduating high school seniors to land at state public colleges.
Sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Chrisopher Belt, Senate Bill 2448 seeks to create a centralized website where senior high school students can apply to all public institutions across the state through a single application submission. The system works by the colleges first feeding the website the GPA requirements needed for admission, with the students ultimately receiving offers from all the universities in their GPA range.
“I support that because what you have is the schools could target students by their acceptance possibilities,” Ford told The Center Square. “It sort of targets the school, tailor-fits their students. Instead of applying to lots of different schools and getting rejected, it almost puts the students in a situation where they will be recruited and it’s cheaper too.”
Belt stresses he is also hoping the measure will help keep young people in the state for their college years and beyond.
Again, Ford likes what he hears.
“I think that when students get those first letters of acceptance from an Illinois school, they will feel confident,” he said. “That’s going to increase the chances for us to keep them here for their college years, and then it’ll also increase the potential for businesses to hire from our colleges. If we could teach students in our higher education community, we increase our chances of increasing our workforce and making Illinois a business-friendly state.”
The measure now sits on the Senate floor with lawmakers expected to delve into it in more detail in the coming weeks
