Last week, the University of Wisconsin and Madison Area Technical College officially agreed to guarantee transfer-student admission at UW for MATC students who meet certain standards. Students seeking certain transfer into UW-Madison can now do so after earning 54 breadth credits and maintaining a 3.0 GPA at MATC.

While Chancellor John Wiley's sentiments about helping more people achieve higher paying jobs are noble, they fail to account for something even more important — namely the academic reputation of this institution.

The agreement should raise a few eyebrows.

UW-Madison gains little from this deal, which would fast-track transfer students who are not necessarily prepared for the rigors of this campus. Further, the agreement, due to its automatic nature, has the potential to undercut more qualified transfer candidates looking to enter the system from other UW System colleges and universities beyond Wisconsin's borders. One in four bachelor’s degree holders from UW are transfer students. As with general admissions, we should seek only the best. A more suitable transfer policy exists in the current Connections Program, where students not admitted to UW due to space limitations are invited to complete certain requirements in a two-year UW college and then enter UW without reapplying for transfer.

Regional technical schools are not appropriate for establishment as permanent feeder schools. Their purpose in the state's educational flowchart is distinct from that of the 26 UW campuses around the state.

A sizable influx of unqualified entrants under the unlimited nature of the transfer agreement has the potential to dilute the value of a UW-Madison degree, which is unfair to all those students who have overcome the hurdles of an increasingly selective admissions process.

We question the need for the contract with MATC. It seems the benefits of the relationship can only flow one way — and it's not our way. We welcome competitive, hard-working transfer students to the vast cardinal and white tapestry of individuals here at UW, but we hope they will respectfully hold themselves to the same high standards as the bulk of their peers.

In the future, before making such bilateral agreements on behalf of the school, we hope the administration will ensure UW is not getting the short end of the stick.