College of Charleston's Possible 10% Acceptance Procedure

In recent years, the College of Charleston has received scrutiny for its efforts to bring in the highest achieving students possible based on grades, SAT scores, and other factors that has lead to a significant out-of-state and undiverse student body.  In a drastic move to broaden the student body, the College of Charleston is considering a 10 percent acceptance procedure in which any applicants from certain lowcountry counties in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class will be guaranteed acceptance to the College.

President Glenn McConnell argues that this acceptance procedure will target high achieving students who do not necessarily perform well on standardized tests, but have grades that prove they know how to apply themselves in order to succeed here at the College.

The 10 percent acceptance procedure is still early in its proposal state.  The public still needs to become more informed on what this policy would entail, and counselors from several geographic regions in South Carolina need to be consulted to make the pilot program more representative of the state.  According to Don Burkard, the associate vice president of enrollment planning, the primary goal of the policy is to draw the best performers in South Carolina schools, and to accept them despite possibly low test scores.  Increasing diversity would be a benefit of the program.

For the past 16 years, the College of Charleston has maintained an undiverse student body with the majority of the student body being white.  According to last year's statistics published by Forbes, the College of Charleston is 83 percent white.  This 10 percent acceptance procedure would work with high schools to accept students from low socioeconomic areas who statistically score lower on the SAT and/or ACT.  This policy would increase diversity as more minority students would be accepted, but the policy is not race based.

As discussed in C of C's Senate meeting on Sept. 9, 2014, the proposed acceptance procedure has several benefits.  First, it shows College of Charleston's drive to enroll local students and meet the needs of the community.  Secondly, it would increase diversity as more minority students would be accepted, and other schools in the country have seen success with similar programs.  Finally, it would give C of C the chance to enroll students from low socioeconomic areas who are talented, but who otherwise might not study at the College.

Despite the benefits of this acceptance policy, there are several possible negative consequences of implementing this procedure.  First, it could quickly engender lawsuits from students who were denied acceptance because the policy did not apply to them.  Secondly, it could create a financial problem as increased in-state students might crowd out out-of-state students whose increased tuition is used to subsidize in-state students.  Finally, it could cause C of C to become flooded with applicants who are guaranteed acceptance.

Don Burkard, associate vice president of enrollment planning, offers further information about the details of the proposed acceptance policy here.

Being a minority student here at the College can be challenging.  Gabriel Sean Huffman, a senior business major here at C of C, shares some of the challenges and experiences he has encountered at the College as a minority student here.

President McConnell hopes to have a pilot program of the 10 percent acceptance procedure in effect as early as the 2015-2016 school year, and it will likely include Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties.  A thorough assessment of this pilot program will reveal whether it is successful and could be expanded to the entire state.