APS to offer direct path to college at GMU at 3 high schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:George mason has a 90 percent acceptance rate and is basically an oversized community college. They are streamlining low income students who are more likely to stay home and go to George Mason rather than wealthier students that will go to some out of state party school with a high acceptance rate if their grades suck (think ole miss or WVU)

GMU has a very good reputation and very well-respected programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the real benefit is not having to go through the application process.

I don't quite see why they couldn't offer this to all APS students? What is the downside in offering it across the board? Clearly George Mason must not have wanted to agree to that.

They could have offered it to all high schoolers who qualify for FRE, regardless of high school.

This would land a lot better. Lots of kids at W-L, Career Center, and Wakefield don't need this option and yes even a few at Yorktown or HB could use it.

It isn't about affordability. It's about "underrepresented populations" which includes lower income students, as well as students of color who aren't necessarily so impoverished as to qualify for free meals. Many of them still wouldn't necessarily be willing/as supported going through the complicated process of college searches and applications. This makes it simpler - with them KNOWING they are admitted and being able to just focus on that rather than finding and applying to other schools that are probably harder for them to access for reasons beyond finances. Just being able to live at home and commute to GMU makes college more financially accessible for a lot of students.

Affirmative action is illegal now dum dum

That's why they're doing it this way, dum-dum.

Any first year law student can see through this ,it won't last

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George mason has a 90 percent acceptance rate and is basically an oversized community college. They are streamlining low income students who are more likely to stay home and go to George Mason rather than wealthier students that will go to some out of state party school with a high acceptance rate if their grades suck (think ole miss or WVU)

I always understood GMU to be among the very strong mid-tier of the state schools. Very highly regarded, more accessible, but less cachet than W&M, VPI, UVA, etc.

Kind of like UMBC in Baltimore County. I wonder if the newly expanded Arlington Campus will host undergrads. That would help the low income Arlington students with the commmute to/from classes.

It’s very much a commuter school. I’m not saying it’s a bad school, it’s not. But it is typically not the first choice of those who want the traditional college experience.

Well, certainly not if those students live in northern virginia. But there are residential students and the resident population has been growing. Have you seen all the dorms that they've built in the last several years? And a lot of students live nearby off-campus, just like at most 4-year universities. It really doesn't feel as commuter-schoolish as you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the real benefit is not having to go through the application process.

I don't quite see why they couldn't offer this to all APS students? What is the downside in offering it across the board? Clearly George Mason must not have wanted to agree to that.

They could have offered it to all high schoolers who qualify for FRE, regardless of high school.

This would land a lot better. Lots of kids at W-L, Career Center, and Wakefield don't need this option and yes even a few at Yorktown or HB could use it.

It isn't about affordability. It's about "underrepresented populations" which includes lower income students, as well as students of color who aren't necessarily so impoverished as to qualify for free meals. Many of them still wouldn't necessarily be willing/as supported going through the complicated process of college searches and applications. This makes it simpler - with them KNOWING they are admitted and being able to just focus on that rather than finding and applying to other schools that are probably harder for them to access for reasons beyond finances. Just being able to live at home and commute to GMU makes college more financially accessible for a lot of students.

Affirmative action is illegal now dum dum

That's why they're doing it this way, dum-dum.

Any first year law student can see through this ,it won't last

Then let these schools and students enjoy it while they have the opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the real benefit is not having to go through the application process.

I don't quite see why they couldn't offer this to all APS students? What is the downside in offering it across the board? Clearly George Mason must not have wanted to agree to that.

They could have offered it to all high schoolers who qualify for FRE, regardless of high school.

This would land a lot better. Lots of kids at W-L, Career Center, and Wakefield don't need this option and yes even a few at Yorktown or HB could use it.

It isn't about affordability. It's about "underrepresented populations" which includes lower income students, as well as students of color who aren't necessarily so impoverished as to qualify for free meals. Many of them still wouldn't necessarily be willing/as supported going through the complicated process of college searches and applications. This makes it simpler - with them KNOWING they are admitted and being able to just focus on that rather than finding and applying to other schools that are probably harder for them to access for reasons beyond finances. Just being able to live at home and commute to GMU makes college more financially accessible for a lot of students.

Affirmative action is illegal now dum dum

That's why they're doing it this way, dum-dum.

Any first year law student can see through this ,it won't last

Then let these schools and students enjoy it while they have the opportunity.

What are they enjoying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:George mason has a 90 percent acceptance rate and is basically an oversized community college.

Wrong. It’s a full four year university and research institution, with degree programs, law school, graduate school, and more. Just because more students live at home and commute, or work part-time, doesn’t make it a community college.

[Anonymous]

GMU is a MAGA libertarian school involved in Project 2025

[Anonymous]

I think it's great and personally have zero problem excluding Yorktown and HB. That said, the lawyer in me thinks this poses a problem for APS even though it's a benefit being offered by an outside institution. It's arguably a significant educational opportunity to have a direct admissions pathway to college, and APS is required to make opportunities equally available to all students who reside within the school district. Now there have always been differences from one school to the next, so equal doesn't always mean identical. Maybe this is analogous to a private donor offering to make a donation just to Wakefield or WL? I suspect there are rules about when that can and can't be done.

Ages ago I recall a dispute about whether our PTA could permissibly buy a new picnic table for the playground at our elementary school. The concern was that wealthy schools would have more resources to make improvements and that wouldn't be equitable. It seemed a little over the top for just a picnic table, IMHO, but when something more significant than a picnic table is at stake, I assume there is a policy that governs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's great and personally have zero problem excluding Yorktown and HB. That said, the lawyer in me thinks this poses a problem for APS even though it's a benefit being offered by an outside institution. It's arguably a significant educational opportunity to have a direct admissions pathway to college, and APS is required to make opportunities equally available to all students who reside within the school district. Now there have always been differences from one school to the next, so equal doesn't always mean identical. Maybe this is analogous to a private donor offering to make a donation just to Wakefield or WL? I suspect there are rules about when that can and can't be done.

Ages ago I recall a dispute about whether our PTA could permissibly buy a new picnic table for the playground at our elementary school. The concern was that wealthy schools would have more resources to make improvements and that wouldn't be equitable. It seemed a little over the top for just a picnic table, IMHO, but when something more significant than a picnic table is at stake, I assume there is a policy that governs?

What is APS's role in it? Isn't this something GMU is doing?

[Anonymous]

APS’s boundary decisions and the student’s enrollment at an APS school dictate whether a student is eligible. That’s probably enough of a role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the real benefit is not having to go through the application process.

I don't quite see why they couldn't offer this to all APS students? What is the downside in offering it across the board? Clearly George Mason must not have wanted to agree to that.

They could have offered it to all high schoolers who qualify for FRE, regardless of high school.

This would land a lot better. Lots of kids at W-L, Career Center, and Wakefield don't need this option and yes even a few at Yorktown or HB could use it.

It isn't about affordability. It's about "underrepresented populations" which includes lower income students, as well as students of color who aren't necessarily so impoverished as to qualify for free meals. Many of them still wouldn't necessarily be willing/as supported going through the complicated process of college searches and applications. This makes it simpler - with them KNOWING they are admitted and being able to just focus on that rather than finding and applying to other schools that are probably harder for them to access for reasons beyond finances. Just being able to live at home and commute to GMU makes college more financially accessible for a lot of students.

Affirmative action is illegal now dum dum

That's why they're doing it this way, dum-dum.

Any first year law student can see through this ,it won't last

It’s not illegal to target first-gen and lower-income families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George mason has a 90 percent acceptance rate and is basically an oversized community college. They are streamlining low income students who are more likely to stay home and go to George Mason rather than wealthier students that will go to some out of state party school with a high acceptance rate if their grades suck (think ole miss or WVU)

I always understood GMU to be among the very strong mid-tier of the state schools. Very highly regarded, more accessible, but less cachet than W&M, VPI, UVA, etc.

Kind of like UMBC in Baltimore County. I wonder if the newly expanded Arlington Campus will host undergrads. That would help the low income Arlington students with the commmute to/from classes.

It’s very much a commuter school. I’m not saying it’s a bad school, it’s not. But it is typically not the first choice of those who want the traditional college experience.

Well, certainly not if those students live in northern virginia. But there are residential students and the resident population has been growing. Have you seen all the dorms that they've built in the last several years? And a lot of students live nearby off-campus, just like at most 4-year universities. It really doesn't feel as commuter-schoolish as you think.

GMU is trying to evolve, but it’s certainly different than the traditional college experience with full-time students coming from HS and all freshmen living on campus.

The MAGA efforts are concerning as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS’s boundary decisions and the student’s enrollment at an APS school dictate whether a student is eligible. That’s probably enough of a role.

Yup. Every boundary change over the past decade-plus lowered the concentration of poverty at Yorktown whilst increasing it at Wakefield and W-L. APS staff, seeing how future boundary changes to address capacity issues would further exacerbate this, removed socio-economic considerations as one of the priorities (for boundary changes).

Programs like the guaranteed admission to GMU help to level the playing field so to speak, as the schools become more segregated.

[Anonymous]

But is it a permissible way to level the playing field? I have zero objection to any of this, but I’m curious how APS defends against claims that all APS students should have equal access to this type of benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, but it's GMU.

You’re a jerk. Do better.

It's GMU, home to the Scalia School of Law. No thanks.