Over 170 Missouri students opt in to MU’s guaranteed admissions program
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Since its announcement Tuesday, 172 high school seniors across Missouri have opted into the University of Missouri’s guaranteed admissions program.
Eligible students are high school students with a 3.0 GPA who have completed at least 12 credits of college-level courses through their school district’s early college program. School districts partnering with MU include Columbia Public Schools, Farmington School District, Lee’s Summit R-7 School District, Liberty Public Schools and North Kansas City Schools.
There is currently no limit on guaranteed spots. The requirements are meant to mirror how a typical MU student would perform. The program is also not binding, leaving students free to consider other schools.
“I think students that first week of school or that first week of August, and as we start the school year, to know that they’ve been accepted somewhere, just kind of takes a weight off their shoulders and makes senior year hopefully a little bit easier,” CPS Advanced Studies Coordinator Jacob Biener said.
Biener says 40 juniors out of 250 students in CPS’ early college program with Moberly Area Community College opted into guaranteed admissions. He adds that non-eligible students who may have started college-level courses late still can benefit from CPS covering class costs.
“Even though they aren’t getting an associate degree or getting auto-admitted to Mizzou, they’re still getting a huge jump start and likely still meeting all the requirements they need to be accepted to,” Biener said.
According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, statewide college admissions have been on the decline. From 2020-25, the percentage of high school graduates going to a four-year college declined about 2.5%. Vocational and technical school enrollment saw around a 2% increase since 2020.
“Our enrollment numbers have held steady and we’re really proud of that,” said Mitzi Clayton, who is MU’s director of enrollment management strategic initiatives. “But, we are not naïve to think that what Dr. [Mun] Choi has indicated, that nationally, college-going rates are on the decline and so it behooves us not to look at alternative ways in which we can reach students.”
Clayton added MU is considering adding other school districts with pre-college programs to the partnership in the future.
MU also has a similar guaranteed admission program for 4-H students and also has unlimited spots. Clayton confirmed that enrollment in either guaranteed admission program will not be affected by the additional students.
“We have students that know they’re going to law school, med school, and this is a way to kind of go through that process a little bit quicker,” Biener said. “Even students that are first-time college students or first-gen college students and students that know they’re going to be pursuing higher degrees, what they have in common is kind of how hard they work and that they’re in this program together.”
Click here to follow the original article.