College Admission Help

Texas' 10-percent rule on state College Admissions subject to Legislature's tinkering

By EMILY GUEVARA
When Evan Cooper opened the letter from the University of Texas at Austin, it wasn't good news.
He was not accepted to the school because he did not meet requirements.
But the school also expressed concern about the number of students it would have to admit under the top 10 percent rule.
Cooper, 18, a senior at Clifton J. Ozen Magnet High School, thinks that might have played a role.
A proposed bill that will be considered in the Texas House of Representatives in the coming days would limit the number of students who gain automatic admission to Texas' public universities.
The bill, passed recently in the Senate, would put a cap on the number of students public universities have to admit under the top 10 percent rule.
As it stands now, high school seniors who graduate in the top 10 percent of their senior class gain automatic admission to Texas' public universities.
The proposed bill would allow public universities to admit 60 percent of their freshman class under this rule. But if the number of top 10 percent applicants exceeded 60 percent of the school's allotted slots for freshmen, they could stop automatic admissions at 60 percent and select the remainder of their class based on the school's own criteria.
The hope is that it would give large universities such as UT-Austin more flexibility in admissions and insure that quality students aren't being turned away, according to an Associated Press report.
But some local legislators aren't so sure.
Rep. Mike Hamilton, R-Mauriceville, is adamantly opposed to the change. He said it would give students less of chance to get into the state's largest schools.
"You're letting the big colleges pick the elite of the state of Texas so that if you're not one of the elite in the state of Texas, then you don't get to go," Hamilton said by phone.
Brittany Doucette, 17, an Ozen junior, favors the top 10 percent rule as is. Doucette, who plans to attend Prairie View A&M University, said a limit could discourage some students during the college application process.
Jarrick Brown, 16, also an Ozen junior, agreed.
"I feel if a student works hard their four years in high school they should be rewarded in some way," Brown said by phone.
The top 10 percent rule was implemented to help public colleges and universities diversify their student body, said State Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont. It specifically focused on flagship schools such as the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University in College Station, Deshotel said.
"But it has not really done that," Deshotel said. "It has not been the effect that they thought it would have."
According to The Associated Press, Rep. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, author of the bill, said the law had caused a "brain drain" at UT by discouraging bright students who fell outside the top 10 percent to go elsewhere.
It also has become something of a problem at UT, where about 80 percent of last year's Texas freshmen were admitted under the rule, according to the AP.
If it is not curtailed, in the next three years, UT will only be able to admit top 10 percent students, according to the wire service. Other large schools could be affected in the same way.
But Evan Cooper said the change could be a good thing for students like him.
"Like my class, it's really hard, everybody's fighting to be in the top 10 percent," said Cooper, who wants to study business. "I think with the top 10 percent it really limits some students to getting a good education."


Texas' 10-percent rule on state College Admissions subject to Legislature's tinkering