The 10% Rule

In 1997, state lawmakers enacted a law that required the 35 state universities in Texas to automatically admit students who are in top 10% of their graduating class. The original intent of the law was to serve as a race-neutral way to increase diversity, ensuring that students from high minority Texas high schools have the opportunity to attend state universities. Over the last 11 years, there have been slight gains in the number of minority students admitted, yet university officials are now crying foul that the 10% rule is hindering who they can admit.

UT President William Powers, Jr. testified before legislators that 81% of entering freshman are a result of the 10% rule and that projections are that 86% of the 2009 freshman class will be from the top 10%. Powers claims that this limits the university's ability to admit students with leadership, artistic, musical, or other talents that don't translate into a high class ranking. Powers wants to cap the number of top 10% students admitted to only 40% of an incoming class. Powers says that by capping the admissions, the university can admit more black and Hispanic students and still create the diversity that was the original intent of the law.

There are others beside university presidents who want the rule to change. Wealthy suburban high school students, who might rank in the top 25% of the class, say that their schools provide much more rigor; thus, they are better prepared for college than other schools. Others want their "legacy" status to be weighted for admission. For a variety of reasons, the opponents of the 10% rule want the law changed.

I'm a believer in the 10% rule. I think it is vital for students from small, rural districts to be admitted to top-tier universities. A student who is in the top 10% in Falls County should have the chance to go to UT, A&M, or any other university in the state as a student from Plano, Frisco, Alamo Heights, or other affluent suburbs. The arguments that suburban high schools are somehow superior to rural schools are elitist and are disrespectful to the talented, intelligent students that come through our school. Our kids deserve a chance, and I hope legislators do the right thing and leave the 10% rule in effect.