Texas’ top 10 percent automatic college admission rule has worked for and against Austin-area families.

The law—enacted 20 years ago this May to increase diversity in Texas’ public universities—has left many questioning if the system provides a holistic view of student achievement and ability.

Malinda Golden, Georgetown ISD superintendent of teaching and learning, said a more rounded admissions approach would uncover students’ gifts and talents and provide better access to higher education opportunities.

“A student's ability to communicate, collaborate, create, innovate and persevere are a few of the key attributes that are essential [at GISD] yet difficult to measure by a grade point average, class rank or one test score,” Golden said via email. “Therefore, we are pleased that universities look at more than just a test score or GPA.”

COMPLICATIONS OF THE RULE

Some critics argue the 20-year-old college admissions rule hurts students from competitive, academically rigorous schools by limiting the admissions criteria to a single factor.

The University of Texas' “holistic” admissions process looks at everything from extracurricular activities to community involvement and SAT scores, UT President Gregory Fenves said.

In 2008, UT filled 81 percent of its freshmen class with top 10 percenters, a realization that spurred legislators to take action, altering the university’s policy from automatically accepting those in the top 10 percent to just those in the top 7 percent.

Today, 75 percent of UT’s freshman class is made up of top 7 percenters who are admitted based on class rank.

“This lone factor misses the richness and the educational and life experience that often get in the way of one’s class rank,” Fenves said at an April Senate Higher Education Committee meeting.

For its three high schools, GISD uses a weighted GPA, based on a 6.0 scale, to determine class rank and to indicate each student's academic standing relative to their peers.

Course choice has an impact on class ranking, and the number of grade points earned in each class is determined by the grade earned as well as the weighted levels of rigor for courses such as English, mathematics, science, social studies and foreign languages.

Core-level, or Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, courses are based on a 5.0 scale, and advanced courses, including gifted and talented, pre-Advanced Placement, AP and dual-credit courses, use a 6.0 scale. 

In 2016, 41 students from Georgetown High School’s graduating class were automatically accepted into state schools based on the top 10 percent rule.

That number was even lower at East View High School in 2016 when the GPA cutoff for the top 10 percent was 4.9000 out of the 6.0 scale, according to the district.

Chip Richarte High School, the district’s academic alternative school, had 45 students in its 2016 graduating class, meaning just five students qualified for the top 10 percent. 

AN AREA SNAPSHOT

According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, about 22,185 students who ranked between the 11th and 25th percentiles of their 2016 graduating class went to a state public university. Almost 37,000 students who made up the other 75 percent of their classes also went to Texas public universities.

At UT, 27,215 Texas students applied in 2016, and 18,744 were accepted. Of those, 12,733 were in the top 10 percent, and 1,499 fell between the 11th and 25th percentile. Of those Texans who enrolled, 5,571 were in the top 10 percent,  and 1,964 were outside the top 10 percent.

About 360 students admitted to UT outside the top 10 percent enrolled at a different Texas public university, according to the state higher education commission.

Another 3,278 students who were automatically admitted to UT chose to go to another public university.

“The landscape of higher education in the state of Texas is dramatically different now than [when] the first bill—the top 10 [percent] bill—was passed 20 years ago,” UT Provost Maurie McInnis said in April.

Southwestern University in Georgetown is not restricted by the top 10 percent rule because of its status as a private institution, but it does take class rank into consideration, according to  Christine  Bowman, the dean of admissions and enrollment services.

“As we utilize a holistic admission philosophy, class rank is one of many areas we consider, if a school offers it,” Bowman said. “If a school does not report rank, we utilize GPAs but also look at our rich database to compare where we have previously admitted and enrolled students who have been successful in our liberal arts and sciences environment.”

Bowman also said that students ranking in the top 10 percent tend to be capable of successfully completing the university’s curriculum. But that the school also enrolls students who ranked outside of the top 10 percent at competitive high schools across the state or country.

FUTURE STEPS FORWARD

Fenves said the top 10 percent rule forced UT to increase geographic diversity. The latest freshman class includes students from 240 Texas counties.

State Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, the Senate Higher Education Committee chairman, said the 10 percent rule once served a purpose in improving higher education’s diversity but is no longer doing so.

He proposed Senate Bill 2119, a bill that would permit universities to cap the number of automatic enrollees at 30 percent of the incoming class. If passed, Seliger’s bill could free up 45 percent of the incoming UT class for those admitted through the holistic admissions process.

In 2009, UT received 14,000 applications from non-top 10 percenters but could only admit 3,300 students through its holistic admission process, Fenves said. By 2016 the university received 21,000 non-top 10 percent applications for the same number of available slots.

Although Seliger is ready to move now, other lawmakers are hesitant. State Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, authored a bill to investigate the current impact of the rule on state university’s admission and enrollment. Universities would be required to evaluate the rule annually and submit a report to the state for further action.

Even with further analysis, Seliger said he is not convinced the rule is necessary.

“It is not the role of government to set admission policies for universities absent some compelling reason—discrimination and things like that—which there is not right now,” he said.