Kansas Board of Regents
Qualified Admissions Task Force
Admissions Standards*

These Admission Standards were approved by the KBOR during the December, 2010 meeting

In order to be admitted to a Kansas public university, applicants must meet the following standards. Kansas
residents meeting these standards are guaranteed acceptance. State universities may set higher standards for
nonresidents.

All freshman applicants must achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 on all transferable credit hours.
Explanation: This is a new requirement for all freshman applicants.

Graduates of Accredited High Schools
Applicants who graduated from an accredited high school, are under the age of 21 and have less than 24transferable college credit hours, must meet the following criteria:
1. Complete the precollege or Kansas Scholars curriculum with at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA for
Kansas residents and at least a 2.5 cumulative GPA for nonresidents, AND
2. Achieve one of the following:
a. ACT composite score of 21 or higher, OR
b. Combined SAT score of 980 or higher on math and critical reading, OR
c. Rank in the top one-third of their graduating high school class.
Explanation: Current standards include the precollege curriculum as one option among three criteria
(test score, class rank, precollege curriculum) applicants may meet for admission. The proposed change
removes the precollege curriculum as an option and instead requires students take the precollege
curriculum and achieve a minimum GPA as a condition for admission. The proposed change also allows
the Kansas Scholars curriculum to be substituted for the precollege curriculum.

Graduates of Unaccredited High Schools (includes students who are home schooled)
Applicants who graduated from an unaccredited high school or home school, are under the age of 21, and
have less than 24 transferable college credit hours, must meet the following criteria:
1. Demonstrate completion of coursework equivalent to the precollege or Kansas Scholars curriculum,
AND
2. Achieve one of the following:
a. ACT composite score of 21 or higher, OR
b. Combined SAT score of 980 or higher on the math and critical reading sections.
December 15-16, 2010 Discussion Agenda | Wednesday
20
Scholars curriculum as a condition for admission. There is currently no such
requirement.
Explanation: The proposed change requires students demonstrate they have completed the equivalent of
the precollege or Kansas

GED students
Applicants who have completed the GED, are under the age of 21, and have less than 24 transferable college
credit hours, must meet the following criteria:
1. Achieve an overall score of 2550 on the GED with minimum scores of 510 on each subtest. If the
GED was taken before 2002, the overall score must be 250 with minimum scores of 50 on each
subtest, AND
2. Achieve one of the following:
a. ACT composite score of 21 or higher, OR
b. Combined SAT score of 980 or higher on math and critical reading.
Explanation: The proposed change requires applicants to meet minimum ACT/SAT scores. There is
currently no such requirement.

21 or older
Applicants who are 21 or older and have fewer than 24 transferable college credit hours must meet one of
the following criteria:
1. Graduate from an accredited high school, OR
2. Achieve an overall score of 2550 on the GED with minimum scores of 510 on each subtest. If the
GED was taken before 2002, the overall score must be 250 with minimum scores of 50 on each
subtest.
Explanation: These standards are the current requirements. No change is requested.
International students
Institutions will verify international applicants have equivalent preparation as U.S. applicants.
Explanation: This is an adaptation of current practice.

Non Freshman Transfer Applicants
Students with 24 or more transferable college credit hours must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 on
all transfer course work to be eligible for admission.
Explanation: No changes are proposed for this category.

Exception Windows
Exception windows are established for the following categories of applicant: resident freshmen, nonresident
freshmen, resident transfer, and nonresident transfer. These windows are intended for applicants who do not
meet standard admission criteria. A maximum of 15% of resident freshmen applicants, 15% of nonresident
freshmen applicants (or 75, whichever is higher), 10% of resident transfer applicants, and 10% of
nonresident transfer applicants may be admitted through an exception window.
Explanation: The resident freshmen exception window is increased from 10% to 15%. The conditional
admit category is renamed the nonresident freshmen exception window and is increased from 10% or 50
students, whichever is higher, to 15% or 75 students, whichever is greater.

Curriculum
Precollege curriculum. The precollege curriculum is a 16-17 unit curriculum designed to prepare high school students for university-level work.
4 Units, English Selected From: English/Language arts, Composition, Literature/Reading, AP
courses, Speech (limited to ½ unit, which is optional)
3-4 Units, Mathematics 3 units of math with the requirement that students meet ACT college readiness
math benchmark OR
4 units of math and one unit must be taken in the year the student graduates
(Courses are selected from Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Probability &
statistics, Trigonometry, Calculus, Precalculus, AP math courses, International
Baccalaureate Higher Level math courses, any math course with Algebra II as a
prerequisite, and other courses prescribed by the local school district that are
designed to prepare students for college. Dual enrollment, concurrent
enrollment and online courses may be used to fulfill the math requirement.)
3 Units, Natural Science Selected from: Advanced biology, Biology, Earth/space science, Chemistry,
Physics (At least one unit must be Chemistry or Physics)
3 Units, Social Science One unit of U.S. history
One-half unit of U.S. government
One unit selected from: Psychology, Economics, Civics, History, Current
social issues, Sociology, Anthropology, Race and ethnic group relations
One-half unit selected from: World history, World geography, International
relations
3 Units, Electives Selected from: English, Math, Natural science, Social science, Foreign
languages, Personal finance, Speech/Debate/Forensics, Journalism,
Computer/Information systems, Fine arts, Career and technical education
Explanation: The proposed changes to the precollege curriculum add an option to the English
requirement, revise the Mathematics requirement, and add electives.
1. The proposed curriculum permits Speech as an option to fulfill a ½ unit of English, which
is not an option with the current curriculum.
2. The current math requirement is three units selected from Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Probability & statistics, Trigonometry, Calculus, Precalculus, AP math courses, International Baccalaureate Higher Level math courses, and any math course with Algebra II as a prerequisite. The proposed change requires students to take three units of math AND meet the ACT college readiness math benchmark OR take four units of math, with one unit taken in the year the student graduates. The three-four units may be chosen from the list above and/or prescribed by the local school district if courses are designed to prepare students for college. Dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment and online courses
may be used to fulfill the math requirement.
3. A new category, electives, is added to the precollege curriculum and three elective units
are required.

Kansas Scholars Curriculum: The Kansas Scholars Curriculum is one of the requirements Kansas residents
must meet in order to receive State Scholar designation during the Senior year of high school. It may be used
to fulfill the precollege curriculum requirement for admission.
4 Units, English Same as the precollege curriculum
4 Units, Mathematics Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and one unit selected from: Analytic
geometry, Advanced algebra, Probability & statistics, Trigonometry,
Calculus and functions (Algebra I in the 8th grade is acceptable.)
3 Units, Natural Science Biology, Chemistry and Physics
3 Units, Social Science Same as the precollege curriculum
2 Units, Foreign Language Two years of one foreign language
Explanation: The proposed change allows the Kansas Scholars curriculum to substitute for the precollege
curriculum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Individual state universities may petition the Board for approval to implement more stringent admission
standards than those contained in this document.