UVA Wise drops application fee, streamlines admissions requirements for high school students

WISE COUNTY, Va. (WYMT) - Officials with one public college in our region is making it easier, and cheaper, for incoming high school students to get into their school.

Leadership at UVA Wise announced the new and revamped policies on Monday.

As part of the new initiatives, prospective students coming out of high school will no longer have to pay the standard $25 application fee. The college also announced streamlined admissions requirements. In the past, students needed a combination of test scores, class rankings and a grade point average (GPA) to get in. Now, they will only need one of the three, which are listed below:

• Student is in the top 50 percent of their class with at least a 2.0 grade point average, or

• Student has a 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, or

• Student scores a 17 on the ACT or a 900 on the SAT with at least a 2.0 grade point average.

“We want to make sure we are providing access and affordability to all students, not just in Southwest Virginia or the Appalachian region, but across the Commonwealth and beyond,” UVA Wise Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Jeffrey Baylor said in a news release. “These new policies are aimed at encouraging students to apply and to remove other concerns that may deter or delay their application. We have eliminated as many barriers as possible to help them do just that.”

In most cases, students will also not have to wait as long to find out if they are accepted into the school. Officials with UVA Wise say, in most cases, they will have a decision within 48 hours of receiving the application and high school transcript.

You can read more about all of the changes here.