Open admission

Open admissions, or open enrollment, is a type of unselective and noncompetitive college admissions process in the United States in which the only criterion for entrance is a high school diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) certificate.

This form of "inclusive" admissions is used by many public junior colleges and community colleges and differs from the selective admission policies of most private liberal arts colleges and research universities in the United States, which often take into account standardized test scores as well as other academic and character-related criteria.

The open admissions concept was heavily promoted in the 1960s and 1970s as a way to reduce discrimination in college admissions to and promote education of the underprivileged. The first major application was at the City University of New York (CUNY). It later applied the policy only to graduates from two-year community colleges since they are better prepared for remedial education.

The graduation rates of colleges are closely tied to their admissions policies. Six years after beginning a four-year program, an average of 60% of students nationwide will have graduated. However, that rate varies from 89% at colleges that accept less than a quarter of applicants to 36% at those with an open admissions policy.

...
Wikipedia