Freshman and Recent High School Graduates

This category is designed for students who have recently graduated from high school or who will do so soon. Students in their senior year of high school who anticipate graduating prior to their admission to Clayton State University are in this category. Applicants in this category must have graduated from high school within the past five years, and if they have been to college, they must have completed fewer than 30 semester hours (or quarter equivalent) of college-level credit. Applicants who have 30 or more credit hours of college-level work must apply under the transfer category.

Standards for “Regular” Admission Status

  1. Required High School Curriculum (RHSC). To qualify for regular admission to Clayton State, an applicant must have graduated from an accredited high school and completed the “college prep” high school courses specified by the University System of Georgia RHSC as follows:
    • four units of college prep English
    • four units of college prep mathematics
    • four units of college prep science
    • three units of college prep social studies
    • two units of the same college prep foreign language

      Applicants with questions about RHSC should contact their high school counselors or call the Clayton State Office of Recruitment and Admission (678) 466-4115. Students who graduated from an out-of-state high school and do not meet Georgia’s RHSC requirements (e.g. foreign language) but are otherwise well-prepared may be considered for admission and must complete the foreign language requirement the first semester of attendance.
  2. Freshman Index (FI) of 1940. The FI is calculated based on a sliding scale between high school grade point average in RHSC and standardized test scores (SAT or ACT). To qualify for regular admission to Clayton State, an applicant must have achieved the following:
    • SAT or ACT Minimums:
      • ​SAT Evidence-Based Reading & Writing - 480
      • SAT Math - 440  - OR -
      • ACT English or Reading - 17
      • ACT Math - 17
  • Freshman Index (FI) of at least 1940. The FI is calculated as follows:
    • Using SAT: SATEBRW + SATM + (HSGPA x 500).
    • Using ACT: (ACT composite score x 42) + (HSGPA x 500) + 88.

“Limited” Admission Status

Students who meet the RHSC and SAT/ACT minimums for regular admission but whose freshman index (FI) falls in the window between 1790 and 1939 may be reviewed by the Admission Appeals Committee for “limited” admission. Students admitted in this status may have restrictions imposed as a condition of admission.

Standards for Home School and Non-Accredited Graduates

In lieu of the Freshman Index and College Preparatory Curriculum requirements, applicants from home schools or graduates of non-accredited high schools may validate the College Preparatory Curriculum through satisfactory documentation of equivalent competence in each of the College Preparatory Curriculum areas at the college preparatory level. A student whose SAT I Composite (Verbal plus Mathematics) score is at or above the average SAT I score of the previous year's fall semester first-time freshman and who has completed the equivalent of each of the College Preparatory Curriculum areas as documented by a portfolio of work and/or other evidence that substantiates College Preparatory Curriculum completion qualifies for consideration for admission. For students with ACT scores, the ACT composite score comparable to the average SAT I total score is required.

Applicants lacking an acceptable RHSC portfolio may validate RHSC by the following SAT II scores:

  • English Writing (520)
  • Literature (530)
  • Math IC (500) or Math IIC (570)
  • American History & Social Studies (560)
  • World History (540)
  • Biology (520) and
  • one of the following: Chemistry (540) or Physics (590).

Contact the Office of Recruitment and Admission for details (678) 466-4115.

Presidential Exception

A recent high school graduate otherwise not eligible for admission may be considered for admission in two circumstances:

  1. if the applicant has standardized test scores (SAT I or ACT) in the upper five percent of national college-bound seniors and shows other evidence of college readiness, and
  2. if the President determines that the applicant shows exceptional talent and promise for academic success.

Such presidential exceptions are very limited. Contact the Office of Recruitment and Admission for details.