'Scholar Diploma' could reward Utah teens

Imagine, a diploma that guarantees a high school graduate entry into any public college or university in Utah and access to financial aid to help cover the cost.

The Utah Board of Regents in a meeting Friday will consider a draft policy that would create the Regents' Scholar Diploma.

"It means something very significant," Commissioner of Higher Education Rich Kendell said. "It's kind of a designation — I think an honorary designation."

If a student meets all of the requirements, the policy states a Regents' Scholar Diploma recipient would qualify to be admitted to any of 10 public colleges and universities in Utah without needing an ACT or SAT score. The diploma would also qualify that student for a Regents' Opportunity Grant of $1,000.

It's a designation that would indicate that the student is better prepared to not just get into college but to succeed once on campus.

"Utah has to be very concerned about the question, 'Are we training our high school students well enough to compete in this world economy?' " said David Pershing, senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Utah. "In my view, we have to be more aggressive about encouraging students to take harder classes and more classes in high school."

High school graduates are showing up at the U., unable to succeed in even the lowest level of courses in math and English, Pershing said.

The draft policy in front of regents represents a collaboration with the Utah Board of Education to tackle some "significant challenges" regarding the number of Utahns who are actually earning college degrees these days.

If both boards approve of the draft policy in a joint meeting later this month, Kendell said he envisions formal adoption of a policy by the first part of 2006. A formal policy, he added, would not require action by the Legislature to tackle some major maladies facing higher education here.

"I think the two boards ought to do something in a powerful way," Kendell said.

In a recent memorandum to regents, Kendell cites studies that show how the number of 18- to 24-year-old Utahns enrolled in college is among the lowest in the nation. And the percentage of Utah students who enroll in college by age 19 dropped from 42 percent in 1994 to 31 percent in 2004, one of the sharpest dips in the country, according to "Measuring Up 2004: The State Report Card on Higher Education."