RETRENCH AND RAISE STANDARDS.  That's a Cold Spring Shops recommendation, now offered by the Pope Center to North Carolina.

Truth be told, many students in UNC classrooms shouldn't be there. Faculty members tell me that they always have some students who are academically unprepared or who don't want to study. Many of these students would do better elsewhere, but they are convinced they need a bachelor's degree to succeed in life.

Many of the unmotivated and ill-prepared students drop out of school without getting a degree - some with thousands of dollars of debt. Only 63 percent of UNC system students graduate after six years.

To keep adding to the pool of disengaged students is a mistake. By limiting enrollment, the University of North Carolina could concentrate on the students with the greatest potential for learning. Graduation rates would surely rise.

Imagine that ... boost retention and completion rates by identifying the least likely to finish and exercising caution in offering admission in the first place.

The article is less convincing in suggesting that the disengaged students be fobbed off on the trades.

Students at community colleges can pursue technical and vocational courses, such as carpentry, criminal justice technology, dental hygiene, drafting and welding technology, obtain an associate's degree in a field such as law enforcement or nursing, or start on a baccalaureate degree, transferring to a four-year college after two years.

A disengaged carpenter or a hung-over welder is a threat to himself and everybody else on the job site.