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By Sallie Owen
Staff Writer It may be ha rder for high school seniors to get into Auburn starting in the summer of 1997, Registrar and Interim Director of Admissions John Fletcher said. A proposal is being developed to manage enrollment in the name of quality over quantity, Fletcher said. "We have contemplated raising the minimum ACT score," Fletcher said. The proposal would have to pass through the Academic Standards Committee, the Faculty Senate, the president's office and the Board of Trustees. "We hope it would take effect for the class that would start summer and fall of 1997," Fletcher said. This action is in response to the large freshman class that enrolled in 1995 and limited resources, Carol Daron, assistant provost for undergraduate studies, said. "There were too many freshmen for us to teach with the appropriate size classes," she said. "It put a real strain on the possibility of acquiring a real schedule." "We are trying to handle a problem now, but we should have started a year ago," Daron said. About 3,200 f reshmen enrolled in 1994. Nearly 3,600 enrolled in 1995, Daron said.
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Enrollment for 1996 is still uncertain. "This year is going to be an unusual year Ñ one, because of the residency rules and two, because we are really trying to manage our incoming fr
eshmen," Fletcher said. Fewer out-of-state students may enroll because it is harder to gain residence and in-state tuition privileges now. Auburn stopped accepting applications from out-of-state students in March in hopes of reducing the size of th e freshman class, Fletcher said. The target for 1996 is 3,250 freshmen, Fletcher said. The freshman class exerts high pressure on the core classes, Daron said. Freshman English was one of the most sought-after classes, she said. "There was certainly a large demand on the English department," George Crandell, director of freshman composition, said. "We are not planning to increase the size of classes. We wouldn't be able to deliver the same level of quality by increasing class size," he said. Ove rall, Fletcher said he thought managing enrollment "is a pretty positive step. I think it is a reflection that the University is not interested in being just the biggest school in the state, but in offering a quality education." An Auburn education "w on't ever be pushed out of the reasonable reach of Alabama students," Daron said.
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