“Oregon’s flagship university boasts a well-heeled athletic program that has made it one of the most recognizable brands in college sports. Yet that has not shielded the University of Oregon from challenges facing many other public universities: a shrinking pipeline of local high school students and dwindling state appropriations.” …
The article attributes the “shrinking pipeline” to a declining population of college-age teens. It fails to mention, however, that the state of Oregon had the 4th worst high school graduation rate in the nation for the class of 2014. This was actually an improvement over the results for 2012 (2nd worst) and 2013 (absolute worst). Very difficult to get kids into the state’s flagship university when they aren’t graduating high school.
And because the article highlights the low proportion of minorities, here are the high school graduation rates in Oregon for those groups: Latinos- 5th worst, African-Americans-2nd worst (only Nevada was lower), Asians- 7th worst, and Native Americans-6th worst.
Amazing then that my son whose 3.2 GPA includes upwards grade trend of 3.75, 4.0, 4.0 for 5th-7th semester transcripts (including AP LA and Pre-Calc as a senior), is not only Latino but also multiracial (Latino/Armenian), has strong community service, and submitted an “early action” application still is sitting on Holistic Review with no cear decision date in sight.
Interesting to note if this response was from UO staff that while they are quick to defend themselves on the Post article, but have not adequately addressed what appears to be a systemic problem for at least 2 years regaring dragging the admissions process out.