Adjustments to the state’s Top 10 Percent Rule related to college admission could be on the horizon when the Texas Legislature convenes this January.
“I see the possibility of the Top 10 Percent Rule coming up [in the next legislative session], whether it be decreasing it down to 5 percent or getting it removed,” said state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, who serves as chairman of the Legislature’s Higher Education Committee.
The state’s Top 10 Percent Rule, which guarantees admission to public universities to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school class, was established by legislation in 1997.
“It had to do with giving equal opportunity to rural, smaller schools with the ultimate intent of advancing diversity,” Zerwas said.
Public universities can increase the percentage of students automatically admitted without legislative authorization, Zerwas said. However, they cannot go below 10 percent without authorization, he said.
For example, Sam Houston State University automatically admits students in the top 25 percent of their class, while UT had to seek legislative approval in 2008 to lower its automatic admission threshold to 7 percent.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling June 23 brought the state’s Top 10 Percent Rule into question after UT’s policy to use race as a factor for acceptance to the university was found constitutional.
Considering a student’s race as justification for admission, a form of affirmative action, was implemented in 2004 to increase student diversity, according to the court’s ruling. [totalpoll id="165216"]
“We believe that this is a powerful statement that diversity is viewed as a compelling state interest and that the use of race as defined by the Top 10 Percent Rule in our holistic admissions policy at UT Austin has been deemed constitutional,” said Gregory Vincent, UT vice president for diversity and community engagement in a video upon hearing the verdict.
Plaintiff Abigail Fisher, a native of Sugar Land, argued she was denied admission to the school in 2008 because she is white. According to the court’s ruling, Fisher did not graduate from Stephen F. Austin High School in the top 10 percent of her class.
Race is one factor considered in a UT applicant’s Personal Achievement Index, which includes socioeconomic factors, leadership, work experience and extracurricular activities. Together with an Academic Index, these indices make up one of two components for determining admission to the university. The second component is the Top 10 Percent Rule.
“The component with the largest impact on [the] petitioner’s chances of admission was not the school’s consideration of race under its holistic review process but the top [10] percent plan,” the ruling said. “Because [the] petitioner did not challenge the percentage part of the plan, the record is devoid of evidence of its impact on diversity.”
Zerwas said he believes the ruling sends the message that UT can create diversity in a more precise way than the Top 10 Percent Rule does, which is a broad swath with no consideration to backgrounds of individuals.
Since the inception of the Top 10 Percent Rule nearly two decades ago, the state of Texas has experienced more diversity in its universities. However, the state has also seen an increase in total population, a Hispanic population increase and more Hispanic individuals attending college, Zerwas said.
“Whether the Top 10 Percent Rule has been instrumental in that is debatable when you put all the factors together,” he said. “At UT, primarily where the issue is, it does omit the ability to admit students to the freshman class. To some extent, the nature of those admissions policies impact [UT’s] ranking nationally. If they could be given more discretion in how they admit their student body, they could see rankings increase nationally.”
