The following editorial appeared Monday in the Tacoma News-Tribune.

The University of Washington has sent a strong message to every student who aspires to be a Husky: Hitting the books matters, right up to the end.

Over the summer, UW rescinded 23 offers of admission to students whose academic performance had taken a dive during their senior year of high school. The seniors stricken with “senioritis” either allowed their grades to plummet, failed a required course or didn’t complete challenging courses that had helped them gain admission to UW.

The university also sent 180 incoming freshmen warning letters about the “significant downturn” in their studies.

University officials say they plan to get tougher next year. Good for them. Spots at UW are at a premium, and they should go to the students most deserving of them.

Every year, bright, hardworking students are turned away for lack of space. This fall, the average incoming freshman at the Seattle campus had a GPA of nearly 3.7 and scored in the 78th percentile on the SAT.

Some of the students who didn’t make the cut would likely do better at the university than the senior slackers. Serious students don’t take an offer of admission as license to write off their senior year; they have the discipline and commitment to learning that contributes to success in school and in life.

UW previously didn’t have the enough staff to review the final transcripts students submit the summer before their freshman year. Last fall, the university revamped its admissions process, added two dozen extra staff and began considering a broader range of factors when deciding admissions.

Teachers and counselors who have tried to convince students to not check out early cheer the UW crackdown. The focus on a student’s last high school report card dovetails with the state’s efforts to make sure that students don’t skate to graduation after they pass their 10th-grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

Many prestigious private schools hold students accountable long after the college acceptance letters have been mailed. As money for public higher education becomes tighter and competition for slots fiercer, public universities should do the same.