UNM is looking to raise the bar for prospective students.
President David Schmidly said he will ask the Board of Regents to raise the University's GPA admissions requirement from 2.25 to 2.5 for fall 2009.
By 2010, students would need a 2.75 GPA to get into UNM, he said.
Schmidly said he will send his proposal to the regents by December.
He said UNM would still accept applicants who don't meet the requirements, but they would have to take 24 hours of preparatory classes at CNM under his proposed Gateway Program.
"We're not going to say 'no' to anybody," he said. "What we are looking at is trying to improve the success of our students."
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The program would be formed in conjunction with the higher admissions standards, Schmidly said.
Students who transfer to UNM after taking 16 hours of preparatory classes have a 76 percent freshman-retention rate and a 45 percent graduation rate, he said.
"Fundamentally, we want it to be one-stop shopping for students, so that if you come here in the Gateway Program, you would pay all your fees and stuff to UNM, but you would pay CNM prices," he said. "And we would transfer the money over to them. I don't want students to have to go to two places to register."
Student David Nguyen said he looks forward to stricter admissions requirements at UNM.
"By raising the standards, they'll keep expectations up and make people work a little harder - like it's not a joke," he said. "So, basically, if they want to be serious, they've got to commit to it and get a better GPA."
Student Veronica Contreras said raising admissions standards could be good and bad for prospective students.
"I heard there were a lot of dropouts," she said. "If they raise it, then the students that are not going to take it seriously won't come."
Contreras said the new requirements might discourage potential students from applying to UNM.
"A lot of students are nervous coming in," she said. "They don't know if they can make it or not. A lot of them, once they come here, realize they can. If we raise admission standards, some of them won't even come because they'll think they can't get in."
Jamie Koch, president of the Board of Regents, said the Gateway Program would be very successful.
"When students come to the University that have difficulties in a number of subjects or a difficulty getting into the University, they can go through the Gateway Program, which I just endorse 100 percent," he said. "That would help those students. And they could still live in the dorms and participate with activities."
Koch said raising the admissions standards is an important step for the University.
"Obviously, we want to have a good graduation rate, and we want students to stay," he said. "And the only way to do that is to make sure those students are prepared to enter the University."
Schmidly said his program will help students graduate on time and get good grades.
"This whole thing is only about one thing - student success," he said. "To give every student a chance to come to the University, but to come to the University in a way that maximizes their success."
