AS THE semester comes to a close, our favorite time of the year arrives -- course enrollment. Although technology has significantly improved the ease and organization of enrolling in courses, one fault remains. University policy on calculating enrollment times based on credits is unfair to students, especially those in lower-income brackets.
Many upperclassmen find it quite annoying when a first year with 30-35 transfer credits from high school can enroll in courses before they can. Years in school should be the most important factor in course enrollment time -- seniority should prevail considering students have paid tuition for more years and need more difficult courses for their respective majors and graduation. An excellent student in high school who received a "5" on every AP exam should not surpass a student who has attended the school for two or more years.
Most of us have discovered the unimportance of AP credit at the University. AP courses may correspond to area requirements, but can rarely be applied to major requirements. The biggest advantage is definitely course enrollment. Yet, AP credit is not offered at every high school in America. Many schools have no AP programs at all or have much less funding for quality AP education. Richer districts and states offer many more opportunities for AP courses, as well as make it easier for students to pass AP exams. Also, only some schools subsidize the $70 costs of AP exams. Those students in lower-income high schools do not have the same opportunities. It is unfair that the University rewards students who attend upper-income high schools by granting them primary course enrollment times. In effect, this could create a divide at the University -- lower-income students in larger, less popular courses and upper-income students enrolled in smaller, more popular courses.
If a student receives an incredible amount of AP credit, this does not mean that he is more qualified in college. Students from high schools without AP programs can be just as intelligent. Course enrollment times need to be based on credits taken in college.
Yet this method also has unfair implications. Many students cannot afford to receive transfer credit over the summer from study abroad programs. Restricting credit calculations for course enrollment to solely credit during fall/spring semesters at the University would erase all the disparities in income distribution. This way, students are encouraged to take full course loads during the school year and it would be more difficult for an underclassmen to surpass an upperclassmen in course enrollment time.
High school credit, whether dual enrollment or AP exams, is overrated. Students are not necessarily more qualified for upper-level courses based on their ability to pass a standardized test. All first years who come to this university should start on equal ground. The University creates this environment during Orientation enrollment, but once second semester rolls around, students are then judged based on their previous credit. Students rightfully complain about lack of AP programs or funds to take summer courses, and the system somehow keeps trucking away as students with loads of AP credit take a fourth year's spot in a class needed for graduation.
Granted, the University needs to create a system which rewards students who take on heavier course loads. Yet this should exclude any credit not taken at the University or during the summer. Less affluent students should not struggle to get into courses if they take 17 credits every semester -- they will never catch that student who came in with 40 AP credits, six study-abroad credits, but only takes a 12-credit course load each semester. This system seems highly unfair and skewed to wealthier students. Course enrollment needs to focus on a level playing field, and this can only be accomplished by evaluating course loads during the fall and spring semesters.
Associate Registrar Robert LeHeup states that the current "method is a refinement of the priority system that had been used for decades previously." This argument is no longer valid. Students with AP credits are not "farther along in their studies."
Further, there is no reason to evaluate the effectiveness of AP courses. We all know it is a much easier alternative to University credit. Since there are disparities in AP high school offerings, the University should de-legitimize AP credit by primarily removing them from credit calculations.
In order for the course enrollment process to work, a priority system needs to be in place. But rewarding students who have more resources to obtain AP and transfer credit is detrimental to a fair course enrollment process.
Michael Behr's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at mbehr@cavalierdaily.com.
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