UW-Platteville approaches potential freshmen in a manner similar to a high school student still dateless a week before the prom. Panicked about missing the party, standards and minimum requirements are cast aside; anyone with a pulse becomes a viable candidate.

Or so the 28th edition of Barron’s Profile of American Colleges would have you believe. Out of the approximately 1,600 institutions of higher education profiled, Barron’s reserved the “noncompetitive,” label for less than 100 schools.

The noncompetitive term refers to the level of difficulty students can expect in gaining admission to a given school. Barron’s explains that schools can earn this unenviable label by accepting 98 percent of all applicants or by automatically granting admission to all state residents. UW-P does neither of these things, yet still managed to earn the rating, which is based on standardized test scores, class rankings and university admission standards.

Should you find it troubling that you are paying tuition at a university deemed to have a “noncompetitive” admissions process?

Remarkably, there is an excerpt found in the volume that warns against awarding the rankings undue emphasis.

“Admissions competitiveness is not the only, or even the most important, measurement of institutional quality. … The [College Admissions] Selector is not a rating of colleges by academic standards or quality of education; it is rather an attempt to describe, in general terms, the situation a prospective student will meet when applying for admission.”

Barron’s appeals for rationality notwithstanding, UW-P faces a challenge as a result of this unfavorable national publicity. Perhaps just as important as addressing the issues that led to this ranking is informing people about what “noncompetitive” actually means. It does not mean that the university is an amateurish excuse for an institute of higher learning, or that UW-P grads are ill equipped for the professional arena.

What it does mean, though, is that UW-P accepts students that other schools might deny. In one respect, this is a positive; students who struggled in high school have a second chance. However, this also breeds unintended consequences. A high demand for remedial courses in core subjects drains resources away from students who are paying for a university education. When students are not separated according to level of comprehension of the coursework, instructors may encounter complications.

“In my experience, it’s very difficult to teach beginning German when some students scored an 18 composite score on the ACT, while others have high aptitudes and good preparation for college,” said Patrick Hagen, chair of the UW-P English department. “This is a common experience for those of us who teach many general education courses.”

Although the label “noncompetitive” might push some to lobby for dramatic reforms in the admission policy, a more cautious and incremental approach to solving this problem is advisable; one of UW-P’s strengths is that it does not exist solely to earn commendations from Barron’s or other similar establishments. Let’s keep it that way.