Caddo students could be automatically admitted to the University of New Orleans

Qualified students of the Caddo Parish School District will be automatically eligible to attend the University of New Orleans upon graduation from high school.

Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins along with representatives of the parish school district and the University Of New Orleans announced the creation of the "Caddo Instant Admit Program" Tuesday.

A Caddo Parish student is automatically admitted to the University of New Orleans if they meet three minimum requirements. Those requirements are:

• Graduate from a Caddo Parish public high school with a 2.5 GPA.
• Have a 19 in Math and 18 in English on the ACT (or its equivalent on the SAT.)
• Submit an application for admission. There is no application fee.

Caddo students who qualify will be automatically considered for one of the university's academic scholarships that range from $2,000 to $5,000 a year for four years. The agreement goes into effect immediately.

"We see this alignment as an opportunity for children, especially those who are first-generation college-goers, to be able to much better navigate what it takes to be successful in our colleges and universities," said Caddo Schools Superintendent Lamar Goree.

The University of New Orleans was founded in 1958 and has a total undergraduate enrollment of around 6,500 students, according to U.S. News & World Report.

In 2018, the University of New Orleans was among the top 25 national universities whose students graduated with the lowest average amount of debt as calculated by U.S. News, according to the university.

"Our goal is (to) make it easy for students from Caddo Parish to come to the University of New Orleans and give them opportunities that they may otherwise not (have) had," said University of New Orleans President John Nicklow.