The College of Engineering's "Admit When Ready" policy and the Academic Scholars Program — two programs that have been running on a trial basis — now have permanent statuses within MSU.

Approved unanimously by Academic Council at Tuesday's meeting, both programs will remain unchanged.

"This is simply a recognition that it seems to be working well," said Ralph Putnam, chairman of University Committee on Academic Policy. "So let's make it permanent."

The "Admit When Ready" policy allows engineering students to be admitted to the college prior to earning 56 credits — as long as they've completed five core courses and have the required grade-point average.

About one-third of engineering students are admitted before earning junior status — the point where every student must be admitted to a degree-granting program.

At the end of each semester, students who have declared an engineering major are sent a degree status report, said Thomas Wolff, associate dean of undergraduate education in the College of Engineering. The reports contain how much progress they've made and what still needs to be done to be admitted into the college.

"I would say it has helped in a positive sense in getting students admitted earlier, and even for the students not admitted," Wolff said. "We get a number of students who declare engineering but it's not a good fit for them.

"It has encouraged these students to see an adviser and to change their major at a more appropriate time."

Students not admitted remain in the pool of applicants until they reach the 56-credit mark.

"We're giving out good information, and our statistics showed that we could make just about as good predictions on five courses as we could in waiting for 56 credits," Wolff said.

The Academic Scholars Program is for students who missed the cut for the Honors College. Being in the program makes it easier for these students to transfer into the Honors College later, Putnam said. They also have access to some of the same resources that students in the Honors College have access to, such as honor's classes and may substitute some of their general education requirements with other courses.

"We're just locking into place what we've been doing since 2001," said Ronald Fisher, dean of the Honors College. "It's been very successful. The students enjoy the program, and faculty members appreciate having the students in their classes."

There are 200 students enrolled each year in the two-year program.