Governor Perry Says Minority Admissions Tool Needs Overhaul

[Servo300]

Local - KEYE


Governor Says Minority Admissions Tool Needs Overhaul

49 minutes ago


Governor Rick Perry believes Texas needs to overhaul a law on who gets into college. The law requires state colleges and universities to accept all students who graduate in the top ten percent of their high school class. The 1997 law was intended to boost minority admissions after a lawsuit ended affirmative action in admissions policies.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=382&e=4&u=/keye/20040526/lo_keye/governorsaysminorityadmissionstoolneedsoverhaul

[Gothmog]

1. Top Ten Percent plan is a disaster

I am glad that Texas is getting rid of the top ten percent automatic admission plan. It was ill concieved and is not needed now that Hopwood has been overturned.

[David__77]

2. What's the progressive position on this?

The article makes it sound like there was a concern that too many students were being accepted into the system...

[Gothmog]

3. The top ten percent system

The top ten percent law was passed because of the Hopwood decision outlawed the consideration of race in the 5th Circuit. Hopwood has now been overturned and the University of Texas has again started using race an an admission factor consistent with the University of Michigan case.

The top ten rule does not work as applied to the University of Texas. UT had approximately 74% of the slots this year taken up by top ten percent grads. This meant that students in private schools and out of state students were competing for the remaining slots.

Given that the top ten percent system is no longer necessary given the ability of the state of universities to consider race, I feel it should be done away with.

[salonghorn70]

4. It Isn't Just Private School Students and Out of State Students

fighting for the remaining slots. It is also students from very strong academic public schools.

My son will enter Clark HS here in San Antonio in August. Clark is a very tough academic school. Probably the best in San Antonio. The top 10% at Clark have averages over 96 and it is not due to grade inflation. Consequently, my son may not make the top ten here but would at any number of weaker schools.

As a Texas-Ex have always been concerned about the lack of minority representation at UT. But the top 10 rule is not the way to solve the problem. It should be done away with.

[Gothmog]

5. Agreed, some good students hurt by 10% rule

I know some good kids who did not make it into UT due to the top ten percent rule. Bellaire here in Houston is a strong public school and some good students who did not fall in the top ten percent had to go out of state.

My son did not hear from UT until late April. UT had to clear the top ten percents first before UT could start awarding slots to other students.

With Hopwood overturned, there is not excuse for the top ten percent rule.

[montieg]

6. I am a school counselor in a SMALL

public school in central Texas. I have thought some about this, but I haven't researched the issue.. but just as everyone has an opinion (like a rectum) I have mine. Maybe the 10% admit is proposed as a minority admission ploy, but that seems counterintuitive to me. I bet that if there were good data on the top 10% it would show that they are overwhelmingly white and uppermiddle class or higher.

[UMHBTexasDem]

7. Overhaul needed, long overdue.

I know a lot of people are upset with UT and how they handle admissions. I currently live in Austin and when I started college a couple of semesters ago, I went to a university north of Austin in order to get use to the college atmosphere before trying to transfer to a powerhouse such as UT. What I found though, even with a 3.5 GPA, I was told basically I was not a good enough transfer and to come back when my grades were higher. Alot of freshman *which I am not any longer* I hear wind up at UT-Arlington instead of the Austin campus due to an outrageous amount of students that want to attend. I feel that the admissions policy is alittle outdated, and was put into place to make a few people quiet for a short amount of time. Just my opinion, but they need to update their policies.

[newyawker99]

8. Hi UMHBTexasDem!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: