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U Aims to Burnish Image, Lure Top Students: 'Medium-Quality' Status a Drawback, Analysis Says

Posted on: Saturday, 17 December 2005, 15:00 CST

By Paul Tosto, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn., Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Dec. 17--Many of the nation's best and brightest students consider the University of Minnesota a "medium-quality school," not in the same class as Michigan or Wisconsin.

The university is not viewed as a "medallion" destination by top academic prospects. Even honors students who choose Minnesota rate its academic quality lower than the schools they turned down, according to an internal university analysis.

"Medium-quality, high-affordability" schools like the University of Minnesota must keep tuition low or offer big scholarships to lure good students. "Medallion schools" can charge higher tuition and offer fewer merit scholarships.

Written by a top aide in the provost's office, the analysis speaks volumes about why university officials want to remake the institution. It was tucked into a set of task force reports released Friday offering scores of recommendations on how to turn the university into one of the world's top three public research universities.

Many of the ideas released Friday focused on ways to lure the brightest students, especially students of color. They include:

-- Stronger ties with the region's K-12 schools. A task force, co-chaired by former St. Paul schools superintendent Pat Harvey, concluded the university must work more closely with local school districts to raise expectations and achievement standards so that more students are prepared to enter college. The university should also play a major role supporting early childhood programs.

-- A new effort to support international students, including new scholarships and graduate fellowships for international students working in "priority" subject areas.

-- A Regents Scholars Option. This would be a small, residential college experience for top students, said Kathryn Sikkink, a political science professor who co-chaired a task force on revamping honors programs. Surveys show students who turn down the university worry about class size, individual attention and scholarships, she said. Regents Scholars also might get priority admission to the university's medical and other professional schools.

Officials called the 11 task force reports Friday a milestone on the road to transforming the university. An additional 23 reports are expected in the first half of 2006. Many of the changes are expected to be finalized and in place by fall.

Other previously announced plans include new programs in design, a new emphasis on undergraduate writing and the closing or merging of several colleges, including General College, which for nearly 75 years has offered low-performing students the chance to enter the university, catch up and graduate with a University of Minnesota degree.

The university has not yet put a cost to the strategic positioning effort.

The worry and focus about winning over the best students might seem odd, coming as the university expects a record 23,500 students to apply for 5,300 fall freshmen slots.

The university, however, remains near the bottom of the Big Ten in its share of students coming from the top 10 percent of high school classes.

While it aspires to be a "medallion school" it continues to be seen in a tier that includes the University of Iowa, Indiana University and Ohio State, concluded senior analyst Ronald Matross, who examined survey responses from more than 1,100 University of Minnesota applicants whose high school performance put them in potential honors range.

Matross reported that having a five-year graduation rate of more than 65 percent plays a big role in perceptions of quality. The university's five-year rate for students entering in 1999 came in at 56 percent, improved but still among the lowest in the Big Ten.

"Substantial change" in the university's image, he said, is likely only when its results for students match those of the "medallion schools."

Paul Tosto covers higher education and can be reached at ptosto@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2119.

Online

Go to www.umn.edu/transforming_the_u to read all the task force reports. The report on top students' perceptions of the U can be found in Appendix 3 of the "Undergraduate Reform: Honors" report.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

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Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.)

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