Helping students succeed

Omari Swinton, a professor at Howard University, discussed a study he conducted on Benedict College’s policy of grading students on both effort and knowledge. Because Benedict College has an open admissions policy, SAT scores and high school GPAs are irrelevant to whether or not a student is accepted. His findings did indicate that higher GPAs and SAT scores predicted student behavior better for first-year students than for sophomores, juniors and seniors. He also suggested that colleges and universities who admit men and women with lower SAT or ACT scores and difficult life experience may need to find ways to help these students develop the skills needed to succeed.