Student organizations are opposing the state Board of Higher Education's push for a required writing test on North Dakota's most widely used college entrance exam.

The Board of Higher Education wants students to write an essay when they take the American College Test, beginning in 2006. The board could adopt the essay requirement at its November meeting.

Critics say the tests may not fairly measure a student's skills, and requiring them could make it more difficult for small schools to recruit students.

Public colleges should instead develop their own exams to gauge incoming students' writing skills, said Christina Sambor, chairwoman of the University of North Dakota Student Senate.

"I don't think it should be statewide," Sambor said. "In North Dakota, each individual school has its own recruitment strategies and its own goals and its own people it's trying to recruit."

Students must take either the ACT or the SAT before they enroll at any of the North Dakota University System's 11 public colleges and universities.

About 80 percent of North Dakota high school graduates take the ACT. The multiple-choice exam measures performance in reading, math, science and English.

Colleges use ACT scores to place students in courses, but there is no minimum score required for admission.

UND's Student Senate is considering a resolution that favors an "in-house" exam over a statewide writing test. Senators have not yet voted on the measure, which mirrors a resolution passed last year by the North Dakota Student Association.

Both resolutions say adding an essay to the high-stakes, timed entrance test may not reliably measure a student's ability to write clearly.

"Students are already stressed out enough taking these tests," said Sarah Beck, a student commissioner at North Dakota State University.

"Even if you say this isn't going to be used for admissions, it's still not going to make them feel better. It's still not going to relieve any stress," she said.

The students also object to the added cost of taking the essay test - $14 on top of the $28 bill for the standard ACT.

Michel Hillman, the university system's vice chancellor, said a writing exam would be a bargain because it will help place students in the classes for which they are best prepared.

"I would pay 14 bucks to make sure I got in the right course," he said. "If I get in a course I'm not prepared for, I'm going to spend 300 bucks or more on tuition and bomb out."

Information gleaned from students' performance on the essay section also should help high school students prepare for college, he said.

The university system had more than 2,000 students in remedial classes last year, with most of them falling behind in math and English, Hillman said.

The average ACT score of college-bound North Dakotans was above the national average this year, and test administrators said high school graduates were better prepared to succeed in college English courses than they were in math or science.

But higher education officials say improved writing skills are critical for both college students and those who go to work after high school. A compulsory writing test could help meet that goal, Hillman said.

"We've actually received comments that we don't do a good job of communicating to high school students what we expect in areas like composition," he said.

Students 25 or older, transfer students with more than 24 credits and people from most other countries could skip the essay.

Two-year schools also could waive the essay if they already require a writing test for certain vocational programs, Hillman said.

Students could benefit from writing tests, but the state student association doesn't believe a national testing company should handle the job, Beck said.

"We just don't think that having an essay graded by people sitting in a gymnasium in the middle of Alabama somewhere is going to help place a North Dakota student in a class," she said.