High School Curriculum and University Admission Requirements

The adoption of new CSU admission requirements closely parallels other state-level action over the last few years, calling for a more coherent pattern of academic course work in California high schools. Cumulatively, these multiple forces have produced significant pressures on high schools to increase academic offerings and to meet the new standards. Although the proposed changes were generated from an array of sources, they are remarkably consistent and send a set of reasonably clear signals to schools. The pressure for change combined with a substantial influx of state dollars has resulted in marked improvement on several dimensions. Numbers of academic course sections offered and enrollments in academic courses generally as well as in college preparatory courses show overall increases. They reflect the fact that, for the most part, districts have responded to the cumulative effect of increased graduation requirements, higher expectations, and more rigorous admission requirements.