Coming from an unaccredited public school system wouldn't prevent Clayton County students from attending college. But administrators at state colleges and universities agree it would make getting in a lot harder.

"It's possible, yes," said Nancy McDuff, director of admissions at the University of Georgia. "It's certainly not as easy as having a transcript from an accredited school system. They'll have to prove they've done the work."

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An informal survey by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that most state colleges will accept Clayton County graduates even if the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools withdraws accreditation from the 53,000-plus student school district on Sept. 1.

Clayton County would become just the nation's second school system to lose accreditation and the first in nearly 40 years.

If Clayton fails to meet the nine mandates as required by SACS and has its accreditation pulled, next year's graduates looking to apply to state colleges will likely be treated much the same as home-schooled students, several admissions officials said.

The charter of the 35-member university system of Georgia, which includes the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Clayton State, Kennesaw State and other public institutions, makes specific provisions for students from non-accredited systems or "non-traditional" backgrounds.

Under those guidelines, students typically face a more time-consuming, costly and stressful path to college because of the many additional tests, interviews and recommendations they will need.

Of the University of Georgia's 18,000 applicants last year, 30 to 40 fell into this category, McDuff said, with some needing to take as many as eight additional standardized exams before qualifying for admission.

Some potential students from Clayton could even be required to take some of their classes at nearby Clayton State, said Rick Clark, Georgia Tech's assistant director of undergraduate admissions.

If the prospect sounds daunting, consider the starker alternative. The state's private institutions and out-of-state schools are not bound by the university system of Georgia's rules and are free to make their own decisions.

Kenneth Williams, director of admissions at Clark Atlanta University, said the university normally does not accept students from non-accredited schools.

"They would have to come from an accredited school system," Williams said, before adding that no final decision has been made and declining further comment.

Jean Jordan, admissions director at Emory University, said the private university requires all of its transfer students to come from accredited schools. But no decision has been made whether to accept incoming freshmen from non-accredited public school systems, Jordan said.

"My guess is we'd probably look at those students," she said.

Arlene Cash, vice president for enrollment at Spelman College, and Scott Burke, director of admissions at Clayton State, sounded more optimistic.

They agreed they would have had more concerns about Clayton's possible loss of accreditation had the root of the problem been academic.

"This is not an academic issue," Burke said. "This is about a dysfunctional school board. We feel very strongly we could not deprive a child a dream because of something beyond their control."