Rock Hill’s Winthrop University adjusts admissions criteria amid coronavirus
Students wanting to attend Winthrop University this summer or for the 2020-21 school year will not need to provide standardized test results in applications, according to the school.
Winthrop’s board of trustees voted Monday to temporarily suspend the test result requirement for admissions, a release states.
Coronavirus, or COVID-19, concerns have closed local schools through the end of April, The Herald previously reported.
“Adjusting our admissions criteria will allow students who are still interested in Winthrop to be considered without them having to present standardized test scores at a time when testing may not be an option,” Eduardo Prieto, vice president for access and enrollment management for Winthrop, said in a prepared statement last week. “It will give us the flexibility to evaluate their admission based on alternative criteria if necessary.”
South Carolina schools will not have to administer several standardized tests for spring 2020, reports The State newspaper. They include SC READY (English language arts and mathematics in grades 3–8); SCPASS (science in grades 4 and 6); End-of-Course Examination Program (English, Algebra, Biology, United States History and the Constitution).
“The remaining admissions criteria used to ensure a high-caliber, high-achieving student body at Winthrop University will remain in place, subject to any future State of South Carolina directives, and prospective students will be evaluated with the same amount of due diligence that has served over time to uphold the university’s academic standards,” reads a release from Winthrop.
Admissions criteria is the latest change at Winthrop amid coronavirus concerns. The university moved classes online for the remainder of the semester and is adjusting for revenue loses due to closing the campus, The Herald previously reported.
