By Ted Cohen

Vermont’s ranking state university is facing pushback over plans to stop requiring hopeful freshmen to submit essays with their applications.

“We’ve removed the optional supplemental essay from our application process,” announced Jay Jacobs, vice president for enrollment at the University of Vermont.

Though it’s described as “optional,” high-school seniors traditionally have considered the essay effectively mandatory to making the grade as applicants.

Dropping the essay requirement is designed to “reduce barriers and stress for students,” Jacobs said.

Abolishing the essay comes in the wake of an alarming report of an enrollment drop that is costing the school literally millions of dollars.

UVM President Marlene Tromp recently told state legislators UVM is facing a $12 million annual deficit due to a projected enrollment decline.

The university said it expects to see a 15 percent drop in freshmen this fall compared to last year.

Tuition accounts for two-thirds of the university’s general fund.

In the view of some critics, making the application process easier simply dumbs down the minimum academics needed to get admitted to college.

Mark Hampson, an engineering team leader at BETA Technologies in South Burlington, was shocked at the decision to make the application process easier.

“Are you kidding me?” Hampson asked on a LinkedIn reaction to Jacobs. “Show me a job where written communication is not paramount.”

He argues that dropping the essay is “a symptom of a failing high-school education system, not of having an admission bar that’s too high.”