The best predictor of college success is the rigor of high school curriculum, yet it is difficult to persuade students to take the most challenging classes. As a counselor, I encourage students to sign up for these classes and as many courses as possible. Advanced placement, as well as other rigorous courses that are excellent preparation for college, are available for most students. Too often, however, they do not take advantage of these opportunities. Even high-achieving students will take just enough courses to meet college entrance requirements.

Counselors often are caught between not wanting to deny students the dream of attending college and trying to help them prepare for reality. Most high school students want to attend college, and educators and parents often relay the expectation that the right choice is a four-year college even though many jobs require different post-high school training. Students know that some colleges will accept them even if their transcripts are mediocre.

What students don't understand is the difficulty and expense of surviving college. Dropout rates are high--especially in two-year schools that admit students with limited preparation. Some prestigious private colleges have guidelines that are less stringent than those of public institutions. Unless colleges maintain admission standards that demand the ability to do college work, high school students have no reason to push themselves to the maximum; nor do many students have reason to consider what might be more appropriate post-high training opportunities.

Educators at both the secondary and postsecondary levels must provide quality education and hold students responsible for meeting high standards. K-12 education is considered a given. What is not a given is that students are receiving the best education they can get. Students are passed from middle to high school lacking basic skills. Seniors often choose to coast through their last year as if they had no need to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead.

Many of these students do not survive their first year of college. They invest money and time on courses they should have mastered in high school. Some drop out--burdened with loans to pay, unqualified to obtain a satisfying job that pays a livable wage. Most jobs require some education beyond high school. By allowing students to get by with the minimum--a trend that is fostered, rather than checked, by the current college admissions climate--we are doing these students and our society a great injustice.

It's not too easy to go to college for those students who prepare seriously during high school. They take a full schedule of challenging courses and sit for numerous tests such as the ACT, SAT-I and SAT-II. Their efforts may be rewarded by admission to the college of their choice, placement into higher-level college courses and even college credit. For these students, preparing for college is an extremely demanding task.

Many students currently do not engage in such a rigorous process, but states and a group of prestigious research universities are moving to change this. Oregon, for example, is in its second year of implementing the Proficiency-based Admission Standards System (PASS). Students demonstrate proficiency on defined criteria through tests, complex performance tasks and classroom-based assignments scored by teachers using common criteria statewide. This multi-measure standards-based assessment system replaces inflated grades and watered-down courses. Students can't take the easy class or raise a grade by getting "extra credit" for filing papers. Students know they have met high standards, developed jointly by university faculty and high school teachers, standards that embody the skills needed for college success. In high schools where PASS has been piloted for several years, students no longer dread difficult assignments because they know such activities are the best way to demonstrate mastery of PASS proficiencies. Teachers schoolwide share common, high expectations for student performance.

Other states also are raising the bar for all students. The Illinois Prairie State Achievement Examination requires all students to take exams in writing, science and social sciences along with the ACT. New York students now must pass Regents examinations in English language arts and mathematics to graduate. California, Maryland, South Carolina and Texas are among a dozen states that either have or are preparing end-of-course exams to fortify the high school curriculum to ensure all students master core academic content. The net effect of this state activity is to make high school much more challenging for all students and to "raise the bar" for college preparation.

To help high schools understand better the key prerequisites for college readiness, the Association of American Universities, a 100-year-old organization of leading research universities, is sponsoring a project to identify the key knowledge and skills for university success. By 2002, Standards for Success will distribute materials to all high schools and to state education departments to help them construct challenging curriculum linked to high academic content standards. Using these standards, teachers can truly say, "This is what you must do to succeed in college."

For students who must meet these new standards, preparing for college will be a demanding, but rewarding, process. High school will be a time of sustained challenge and growth, and students will enter college better prepared to succeed.