Academic Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual

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A-1: FIRST-YEAR STUDENT

Procedure: Application

1. Applications are available on the web; paper applications are available from an online print form in September for the following admissions year. Applications 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 or fee waiver must accompany the application.
3. Applications with complete credentials received by the admissions office by November 30 of each year, with SAT or ACT scores from the November test date of the senior year or earlier 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) self-reported senior schedule of courses; (c) required courses completed (or scheduled) for area of enrollment (college choice); (d) SAT or ACT assessment scores (applicants are encouraged to submit the results of all SAT or ACT tests); (e) record of any courses taken at other colleges or universities.  
4. An adult learner, as defined by the University, is not required to provide a high school transcript for admission review. Applicants with 17 or fewer collegiate credits are strongly encouraged to provide a high school or GED transcript for admission review. If a high school or GED transcript is not received, the application for admission will be evaluated based on the available credentials and may be referred to degree-seeking provisional admission, or other options based on the professional judgment of the evaluator.

Evaluation:

1. An evaluation is determined for each applicant and 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) SAT or ACT test scores; and (c) participation in honors or other advanced courses.
2. Applications are processed as they are received in the following manner:
   

   Eligibility levels are established for campus locations and for certain programs based on the number of students who can be accepted. Applicants who are clearly eligible for admission to the campus of their first choice are offered admission until available 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 where eligible. 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.  

3. High school transcripts and standardized test scores (SAT, ACT) are not required for admission of adult learners. Additionally, consideration may be given to waiving math Carnegie units depending on the academic program selected.

World Language Admissions Requirement:

1. World language admission review.

   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 two (Carnegie) units of a single world language at the high school level, or demonstration of the equivalent.

   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 world language. The goal is not the completion of two awarded credits of high school world language study per se, but equivalency of world language ability at or above the level of two credits of secondary school world language.

   Either a third unit in the same language or an additional unit in a second world language other than English is recommended.

   If the requirement is unmet but the applicant is otherwise admissible, then the individual may be admitted as a degree student.

2. Meeting the requirement after admission.

   A student may be admitted with fewer than two units in a world language other than English, but must correct this shortfall by the time he/she graduates from Penn State. This shortfall may be corrected by passing one three- or four-credit college-level world language course or by demonstrating proficiency equivalent to two units of high school world language study. 

   A student who has not completed the world language requirement prior to admission will be notified during their first semester of enrollment by his/her academic adviser.

   Credits earned to meet a world language shortfall may be counted toward graduation from a Penn State baccalaureate program and shall count for the purpose of financial aid eligibility.

Senate Policy:  05-80, First-Year Admission as a Baccalaureate or an Associate Degree Candidate

Senate Policy:  05-81, Minimum Entrance Requirements for Admission to Baccalaurreate Degree Programs

Senate Policy:  05-82, Minimum Entrance Requirements for Admission to Associate Degree Programs

Undergraduate Advising

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