The Academic Preparation of Rural and Non-Rural Students Prior to Enrollment in a College of Agriculture Matt R. Raven, Adjunct Assistant Professor Montana State University R. Kirby Barrick, Professor The Ohio State University McCurdy (1982) noted that from Florida to California, a growing number of colleges and universities have increased academic entrance requirements for entering freshmen. Ohio increased entrance requirements by moving from an “open admission”’ policy to one that required a core of college preparatory courses for entering freshmen. The trustees at The Ohio State University implemented in autumn of 1984 a policy requiring entering freshmen to complete a college preparatory curriculum in high school in order to be admitted unconditionally. The college preparatory course requirements include four units of English, three units of math, two units of social science, two units of science, two units of foreign language, one unit of visual/performing arts, and one additional unit in any of the above required subjects except visual/performing arts. A student not meeting the requirements is admitted on a “conditional” basis, the condition being to take courses in deficient subjects that do not count toward graduation or to show competence in the deficient area(s) by placement tests (Raven & Warmbrod, 1990). Subsequently, in the autumn quarter of 1987, The Ohio State University also started to consider applicants’ class rank as an additional criterion for admission to the university as a new first quarter freshmen (NFQF) for autumn quarters. Studies by Newman and Warmbrod (1986) and Raven and Warmbrod (1990) have found that the academic preparation and aptitude of NFQF in the College of Agriculture at Ohio State has increased since the implementation of the new admission policy. However, a substantial number of students in the College of Agriculture were still being admitted on a conditional basis from 1984 to 1988. Additionally, the standard deviations in the number of core curriculum units completed by the NFQF in these studies were large indicating a diverse student population in terms of academic preparation. Historically, the student enrollment in the College of Agriculture has been comprised of students from rural communities (Reisch, 1984). Educational researchers generally agree that small schools located in rural communities are uniquely different from large schools located in urban or metropolitan areas (Odell, 1986). Researchers also concur that the worsening economic conditions in the rural areas of America have led to a severe shortage of resources for residents of rural areas (Aikman, 1982; Boyd & Immegart, 1977; Brown, 1983). This declining rural economy has effected the lives of students who attend schools in rural communities. Carmichael (1982) stated that rural schools tend to 1) offer a more limited curriculum than metropolitan schools, 2) offer fewer libraries and fewer programs for special populations, and 3) employ fewer support personnel for education services. Barcinas (1989) in his comparison of rural and urban schools in Ohio found that rural schools are different than urban schools. Barcinas (1989) reported significant differences between rural and urban high schools on all of the characteristics investigated. There were more resources available to urban schools than rural schools as indicated by the diversity of curricula offerings and per pupil expenditures. Barcinas (1989) also found that rural schools had smaller number of teachers, support staff, and administrators than did urban schools. 10 Journal of Agricultural Education