(The Center Square) – A Wisconsin bill headed to the Senate would require the University of Wisconsin-Madison admissions to be predominantly based on standardized testing.
Bill sponsors say the goal is to have high and fair standards for the flagship school in the state.
The bill passed the Assembly 52-45 and passed a Senate committee before it heads to the full Senate.
The bill works along with the Wisconsin Guarantee, which says that the top 5% of students in each public, private or tribal high school after their junior year based upon grade-point average will be guaranteed admission to UW-Madison.
“We have one of the best university systems in the entire country and we should be doing everything that we can to raise standards so students meet those standards,” said Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point. “We’re doing the best we can to prepare these students for life after college and hopefully they stay right here in this state.”
The Universities of Wisconsin testified on the bill, stating that the term “predominantly” is not defined in the bill and that the school prefer to use other factors, such as high school grade point average.
“Substantial higher education research demonstrates that high school grade point average is a strong and consistent predictor of student success, reflecting sustained academic engagement, growth, and perseverance overtime,” the universities Office of Government Relations wrote in testimony. “Research, including findings from UW-Madison’s Student Success Through Applied Research (SSTAR) Lab, shows that standardized test scores add limited additional predictive value beyond high school performance.”
A letter from UW-Madison, meanwhile, says the school’s current process of allowing but not requiring ACT or SAT test scores is a better process to be open to more students in the Midwest with many high schools not requiring the tests.
“These legislative proposals have the potential for negative consequences,” UW-Madison wrote in testimony. “Research shows that test scores are highly correlated to family income. Students from higher-income households are more likely to access extensive test preparation resources, participate in multiple test administrations, and otherwise engage in practices that may elevate standardized test performance. Furthermore, ACT scores of students in rural areas are typically lower across income distributions compared to students in urban areas.”
The bill sponsors, however, say GPA standards vary widely in different schools and a high-performing student in one school could be a much better candidate than a student with a good GPA at a school with lower standards.
“This reestablishes merit-based admissions back within higher education,” Testin said.
