A-1: FIRST-YEAR STUDENT

Senate Policy 05-80:  Freshman Admission as a Baccalaureate or an Associate Degree Candidate  

Procedure: Application

1. An application form, available from the Undergraduate Admissions Office in September for the following admissions year, should be submitted at the earliest possible date. Although there is no deadline for filing the application, the September-November period is recommended since applications with complete credentials are processed as they are received beginning in September and many academic programs and campus locations are filled early by qualified applicants.

2. A nonrefundable application fee must accompany the application.

3. Applications with complete credentials received by the admissions office before December 1 of each year, with SAT scores from the junior or earlier year test, have priority for consideration of campus locations and academic programs. Complete credentials must include (a) secondary school record showing grades received for all courses completed beyond the eighth grade; (b) senior schedule of courses; (c) required courses completed (or scheduled) for area of enrollment (college choice); (d) SAT, SAT I, or ACT assessment scores (applicants are encouraged to submit the results of the junior year SAT or ACT); (e) record of any courses taken at other colleges or universities.

Evaluation:

1. An evaluation index is computed for each applicant. The evaluation index is based on a combination of the following factors: (a) grades in applicable courses completed in grades nine through eleven (if the student has graduated from high school at the time he or she applies to Penn State, the ninth through twelfth grade record is used); (b) the verbal and math scores of the SAT/SAT I or English and mathematics scores of the ACT; (c) participation in honors-type courses.

2. Applications are processed as they are received in the following manner:

Eligibility levels, in terms of the evaluation index, are established for campus locations, and for certain programs, based on the number of students who can be admitted. Applicants who are clearly eligible for admission to the campus of their first choice are offered admission until spaces are committed. Applicants who are eligible for admission to the University, but not eligible for the campus of their first choice, are offered admission to an alternative campus. Applicants who are not eligible for admission to baccalaureate degree programs are advised of other possibilities for study at the University.

Because of uncertainty of the number of students who can be accepted for some campuses and programs, it may be necessary to delay the admission decision for some applicants. These applicants will be notified of this and given the option of making an alternative choice of location and receiving an admission decision promptly or waiting until a decision can be made on their first choice of location.

Foreign/Second Language Admissions Requirement:

1.         The foreign/second language requirement.

Admission to all Penn State University baccalaureate programs (including enrollment into the Division of Undergraduate Studies as well as into all colleges) for students completing high school May 2001 or later requires completion of at least two (Carnegie) units of a single foreign/second language at the high school level. This requirement applies to transfer students and those moving to baccalaureate programs after completing associate degree programs, as well as to students entering directly from high school.

The Carnegie Unit requirement does not apply to students who can demonstrate fluency in a foreign/second language. The goal is not the completion of two awarded credits of high school foreign language study per se, but equivalency of foreign language ability at or above the level of two credits of secondary school foreign/second language.

If the requirement is unmet but the applicant is otherwise admissible, then the individual may be admitted as a degree student. In all such cases, the foreign/second language entrance deficiency must be met within the earning of the first 60 credits of the student's matriculation into a Penn State baccalaureate program, or by the date of the student's graduation, whichever occurs first.

2.         Meeting the requirement after admission.

The requirement may be met after admission by passing one three- or four- credit foreign/second language college level course or by demonstrating proficiency. 

A student who has not completed the foreign/second language requirement prior to admission will receive a series of deficiency messages, the first within the letter of admission and followed by messages each time eLion is accessed. If a student has not made up the deficit within 2 years, s/he will be moved to non-degree regular status. Prior to this action, the University Registrar will notify the student's associate dean that the requirement has not been met. The associate dean (or his/her designee) will discuss the situation with the student and will notify the University Registrar to move the student to non-degree regular status if warranted. The University Registrar will change the student's degree status and notify the student of the action taken.

Credits earned to make up the foreign/second language deficiency cannot be counted toward graduation from a Penn State baccalaureate program. Such credits shall count for the purpose of normal progress and financial aid eligibility.

Senate Policy 05-80: Freshman Admission as a Baccalaureate or an Associate Degree Candidate

Approved: ACUI (4-29-76)
Revised: ACUI (1-20-83)
Revised: ACUI (3-25-85)
Revised: ACUE (7-26-96)
Revised: ACUE (1-8-04)
Revised: Editorial (4-29-04))

The University may make changes in policies, procedures, educational offerings, and requirements at any time. Please consult a Penn State academic adviser for more detailed information. Penn State is an affirmative action, equal opportunity university.