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I worry when I hear it suggested that universities should be more open and that we should be encouraging even more people to attend. Heading off to university ill-prepared and without the right level of commitment is a recipe for an early “Dean’s vacation” from one’s studies. That well over 20 per cent of students who start university do not graduate in a reasonable amount of time is an indication to me that we have too many undergraduates. At some Canadian institutions, more than half of those who start a degree do not graduate. I always wonder why so little attention is given to the personal impact of failure on the many students who are forced to abandon their studies for academic reasons.

Clearly — and unsurprisingly — some young people have the ability to succeed and others do not. Intellectual ability is not evenly distributed across the population, any more than is athletic, musical, technical or artistic capabilities.

University is not supposed to be the site for remedial education, yet the demand for such programs continues to grow

Watching, year after year, students with subpar writing and study skills enter the academy is painful in the extreme. University is not supposed to be the site for remedial education, yet the demand for such programs continues to grow. We do not live in Garrison Keeler’s Lake Wobegon, where everyone is above average.

Universities are clearly and demonstrably elitist in many aspects of their work. We exercise rigid controls over key professional programs — medicine, law, accounting, pharmacy, engineering — and demand that entering students demonstrate their ability to succeed before they are admitted to their studies. There is no real reason why we could not exercise this selection earlier in the education process. Allowing students who are ill-prepared for a university education into our institutions weakens the experience for the stronger students and for faculty members, many of whom resent the expectation that they will have to work on developing basic skills among ill-prepared students.