They're Talking On Campus.

. . .About a recommendation by the president of the University of California that the system stop requiring high school students to take the math and verbal SAT to gain admission to the institution.

Richard C. Atkinson said the university should adopt a "holistic" set of admissions criteria that recognize a wider range of academic and individual achievement.

Math and verbal SAT scores do not accurately measure students' mastery of the high school curriculum, the university chief noted.

He also noted that people from lower-income backgrounds don't have access to the test-preparation courses and quality teaching that are available to many wealthy students. This "is not compatible with the American view on how merit should be defined and opportunities distributed," he said.

. . .About the increasing level of debt students are amassing in order to pay for college.

Students are going deeper into debt each year, and most of them do not realize how much they will owe after they graduate, according to "Big Loans, Bigger Problems," a report by the State Public Interest Research Groups' Higher Education Project.

The group calls on Congress to increase spending on Pell Grants by $600, make loans more affordable for students by eliminating the fees that students pay to obtain the loans, and maintain flexible repayment options that help students avoid defaulting on their loans. The report is available at www.pirg.org/studentdebt/finaldebtreport.PDF.