College Proficiency Exams

[JackJD]

Monday's Watertown Public Opinion newspaper included a story from Bob Mercer (Mercer writes special stories for the PO and a few other newspapers in SD) about reports from the State Board of Regents on the latest round of college profeciency exam results. Summary: the number of students needing remedial help rises but a higher percentage of students overall stay in good standing.

Keep in mind South Dakota tells everyone to go to college and that has an impact on the numbers.

The good news when comparing the campuses: SDSU and the School of Mines are the top two in terms of (lowest) percentage of students requiring some form of remediation. Here are the numbers in the Mercer article:

Black Hills State, 15.7
Dakota State, 15.4
Northern State, 13.3
USD, 11.7
SDSU, 8.2, and
School of Mines and Technology, 7.0.

[MinnJack]

Re: College Proficiency Exams

Hey, I passed mine, so I'm part of the 91.8 percent. I was somewhat worried that I wasn't prepared but it all turned out in the end.

To give everyone a sense of what it is, it comes from the parent company of the ACT and is similar to that in nature. The test takes about 3 1/2 hours and covers Math, English, Reading, and Science and takes place in the Volstorff Ballroom. This last semester it was they had four sessions over the first few days of November.

[JackJD]

Re: College Proficiency Exams

Hey, I passed mine,...

Were you worried?

[Prairiehaas]

Re: College Proficiency Exams

Yes good to see that number below 10%. Though SDSU as a State institution cannot be very selective it is attracting talented students, including MinnJack.

The down side on the push in SD to have everyone go to college is too many leave without a degree and with student loans. Not a good way for young peolpe to start life.

[JackJD]

Re: College Proficiency Exams

Yes good to see that number below 10%. Though SDSU as a State institution cannot be very selective it is attracting talented students, including MinnJack.

The down side on the push in SD to have everyone go to college is too many leave without a degree and with student loans. Not a good way for young peolpe to start life.

That's why retention rates are critical...and SDSU leads in that category.

[Prairiehaas]

Re: College Proficiency Exams

Yes and that speaks well for SDSU.

In manufacturing I see a number of young people that have left school with two years of debt and no degree. They come in, start at the bottom with financial struggles. Most manufacturers will give these young people on the job training in skilled positions, welding, machining, machine operations, etc., because of the tight labor market. These same young people could've come in to the operation two years earlier without the financial struggle and learned these skills.

In addition, most larger manufacturers have tuition reimbursement programs. This helps greatly in defraying expenses for a college education made more available through distance eduction programs. I know a VP Manufacturing that went this route.

Note to any guidance councilors on this board. There are significant opportunities out there for high schools grads, other than immediately going to college.

[JimmyJack]

Re: College Proficiency Exams

Yes and that speaks well for SDSU.

In manufacturing I see a number of young people that have left school with two years of debt and no degree. They come in, start at the bottom with financial struggles. Most manufacturers will give these young people on the job training in skilled positions, welding, machining, machine operations, etc., because of the tight labor market. These same young people could've come in to the operation two years earlier without the financial struggle and learned these skills.

In addition, most larger manufacturers have tuition reimbursement programs. This helps greatly in defraying expenses for a college education made more available through distance eduction programs. I know a VP Manufacturing that went this route.

Note to any guidance councilors on this board. There are significant opportunities out there for high schools grads, other than immediately going to college.

Amen. In my experience, the vast majority of students who don't make it at SDSU do not fail because they are not bright enough to be good students. They fail because they are not ready at that moment. As I tell my advisees: Life is not a race. Take your time.