University of Texas Cuts 'Automatic Admission' to Top 6% of High Schoolers

What used to be the 'ten percent rule' at the University of Texas at Austin is now the 'six percent rule,' News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.

Back in the 1990s, the University instituted a unique program to encourage diversity in admissions, by guaranteeing that anybody who graduates in the top ten percent of his or her high school class would be admitted to the state's flagship institution.

Since many high schools are highly segregated by race and ethnicity, the program guaranteed that qualified minority students would be admitted to the University of Texas, without having to resort to unpopular 'quotas' and 'affirmative action.'

But the problem is...too many people are moving to Texas.Applications to the university rose from 38,000 in 2013 to more than 51,000 in 2017.  The number of high school graduates in Texas rose by 14,000 during that same period and it projected to increase by almost 50,000 through 2025.

“Today, the university is enrolling about 1,000 more freshmen than it did six years ago," President Greg Fenves said.  "We accomplished this by dramatically improving four-year graduation rates, making it possible for us to serve more students. We are committed to even further improvements, which will continue to expand access to UT.”

So from now on, the University will only guarantee admission to students who finish in the top six percent of a high school graduating class.

Fenves says this will allow the University to continue to make sure it has enough room for qualified national and international students, and reserve 25 percent of freshman class admissions to students admitted through 'holistic reviews.'  

That includes students with special skills, like sports recruits, as well as students from rural areas, small towns, and the first in a family to attend college.

The top 10% will still be guaranteed admission to other UT System colleges, like UTSA.


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