The City University of New York has had a historical mission to provide higher education to immigrants, the poor, and minority Students. Its alumni include a distinguished roster of intellectuals like polio vaccine inventor Jonas Salk, who might not have had an accessible and affordable college education were it not for CUNY.

Currently, the eleven colleges of the city university system enroll more than 200,000 students, about two-thirds minority. Many of the students are older; many have English-language challenges. Most of them see higher education as a step out of poverty and toward opportunity.

Thanks to a new policy that was clearly endorsed by Republican Governor George Pataki, thousands of students may not have the same opportunity that has been offered since the college instituted its "open enrollment" policies in 1970. Eventually, all students entering the senior, four-year colleges -- except recent immigrants who need only language remediation -- will have to pass three admissions tests before matriculating. Those who do not pass will have only one opportunity to master the material -- during the summer. Otherwise, they will be diverted to one of CUNY's six community colleges -- which are already bursting at the seams.

Who will be excluded because of the Policy? Would you be surprised to learn that two-thirds would be Asian American, African American, or Latino? This represents nearly 8,000 Students a year who would be diverted to "remedial programs" for deficiencies in even one of the areas, of math, reading, and writing.

Meanwhile, 80 percent Of Our nation's universities offer' remedial courses because students who have strengths in some areas may have weaknesses in another -- and 29 pet-cent of all college freshmen nationwide are enrolled in at least one remedial course.

There is nothing wrong with remediation being offered in the context of higher education, especially when students do not get college credit for their remedial classes and when they can take some college-level classes while they are simultaneously taking remedial classes,