For Admission To State Schools, Mass. Ups Science Standard

Massachusetts high school students will soon be required to take at least three years of lab-based science classes to get into one of the state's four-year universities.

The Associated Press reports:

The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education announced Tuesday that beginning in 2017, high school seniors looking to attend a four-year state university in Massachusetts must have taken three years of lab-based courses in natural and physical sciences or technology and engineering.

"Currently," the wire service adds, "students are required to take only three years of science courses, with only two lab-based courses in the natural or physical sciences."

Education Secretary Paul Reville told our Newscast unit that the new mandate will help the state and its college graduates compete in key science and tech sectors.

"That's where the jobs are growing right now, that's where the economy's growing," Reville said. "That's where the future lays, both for the students and the Massachusetts economy, so we've got to be responsive to that."

The department has encouraged school districts to require three lab-based science courses for all high school students since 2007.