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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah State University President Kermit Hall has suggested the state consider tightening admission standards at its two research universities.
Hall told a higher-education appropriations subcommittee that the emphasis on access has resulted in a less satisfying education experience for those attending the universities.
"The touchstone (of your funding policy) ought to be the issue of efficiency and not just the issue of access," Hall told lawmakers Wednesday. "You should be ruthlessly utilitarian to your approach to efficiency."
Hall said Utah State and the University of Utah "ought to be hard-nosed and tough-minded about who they let in their programs."
Lawmakers and higher education officials explored the possibility of making admission requirements tougher at some Utah universities while allowing broad access to others.
The situation springs from the state's economic situation. Legislative fiscal analysts estimate there are almost 10,000 students in Utah's public university system that have not been funded and rolls are still growing.
Nearly all Utah college students saw tuition increases stemming from persistent budget shortfalls in the state's 2003 fiscal budget.
Board of Regents Chairman Nolan Karras supported setting enrollment limits at some schools, but said that more funding should be provided then to those schools that do allow open enrollment.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
