University of Texas Chancellor Bill McRaven is now on board against the Top 10% rule in Texas. His comments were included in a Jan 22 article in The Texas Tribune that covered his comments in front of state governmental boards saying that the rule to allow automatic admission to the Top 10% of Texas high school students into the state university systems was not working because it was negatively affecting the University of Texas’ national rankings.
Proponents have said that the rule helps state universities admit a more diverse student body, putting minority students on a more level playing field. Opponents have argued that the rule makes it more difficult for students from better schools to gain admittance because too many of the slots are consumed by students in the top 10%.
What started out as a hard rule that said anyone in the top 10% in any Texas high school could be accepted into any state university system has been reduced to the top 7% in recent years at the University of Texas because automatic admit students were taking up 75% of the freshman class, reducing the number of students who could be admitted from schools with a more challenging curriculum and gifted out-of-state students.
This rule has been hotly debated since it was implemented, and now with McRaven speaking up against it in his first year as Chancellor in Austin, the debates will likely move back into the headlines soon.