- Published: Friday, May 24, 2019 11:55 AM
Four of the state’s public universities would automatically accept high school students in the top 10 percent of their class under legislation by State Senator Jacqueline Collins, which passed the Senate today.
House Bill 26starts a four-year pilot program in which Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western Illinois Universities admit any undergraduate admission application from a first-time freshman who has graduated high school in the top 10 percent of their graduating class. Students would also need to fulfill each university’s standard ACT or SAT requirements in order to qualify.
“More and more, the job market has shifted to a de facto requirement of at least a four-year college degree. For all job applicants who seek gainful employment with stable hours and benefits, it’s no longer about one’s K-12 education, but about one’s K-16 education,” Collins said. “It’s our hope that by extending this guarantee of admission to state universities which offer a variety of strong career-oriented colleges, we’re encouraging high school students to achieve and ensuring our highest-performing students have an inherent assurance of a college education.”
House Bill 26 must be approved by a concurrence vote in the Illinois House to pass the General Assembly.
