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By Illinois Radio Network/Benjamin Yount
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers are looking at a plan that could make it easier for some high schoolers in the state to stay here for college, but not everyone is happy about the idea.
Illinois’ colleges and university have been looking for ways to keep the best and brightest from Illinois in Illinois for years.
State Rep. André Thapedi, D-Chicago, is pitching a plan to help do that by automatically accepting any student in the top ten percent of their graduating class into any college or university in Illinois.
“If you’re graduating in the top ten percent of your class, I don’t care what high school you went to, that means you have shown some dedication to your craft,” Thapedi said. “You are what I consider to be an emerging leader in this state. I would like to keep those kids here.”
But some universities, particularly the U of I, worry that automatic acceptance could have some students going to a school that they are not ready for.
“As a Tier One research institution, we are not configured at Urbana-Champaign to provide a great deal of remedial education for students who are not ready for an advanced college curriculum,” said Kevin Pitts, the vice provost for undergraduate education at the University of Illinois.
Thapedi’s proposal, House Bill 26, is waiting for a vote in the Illinois House.