Texas “Top 10%” College Admissions Policy Leads to Shifts in High School Enrollment
Here’s an interesting one about the unintended consequences of college admissions policies.
In 1996 a federal appeals court declared the affirmative action program then in effect for admission to the University of Texas unconstitutional. Barred by the courts from considering race in university admissions, the Texas state legislature moved to create an alternate, “race blind” mechanism for improving diversity in the UT system.
The solution the legislature crafted was a law, passed in 1998, providing that any student who graduated in the top ten percent of his or her high school class would be guaranteed acceptance to the UT school of his or her choice. This policy, it was expected, would increase UT enrollment from many schools with high proportions of