Top 10% Rule

In 1997 the Texas legislature passed House Bill 588, more commonly known as the top 10% rule. The bill guarantees acceptance to the University of Texas to any students who graduate in the top ten percent of their high school class. It was originally passed with the goal of increasing diversity at the prestigious state school. Although diversity at the University of Texas increased after the bill was passed, people soon realized that the bill keeps a lot of intelligent and deserving students from being accepted because they don’t fall into the top ten percent. The top ten percent law was passed to equalize the system and give kids with less “advantages” more access to state education but as a result there is now a sort of “reverse discrimination” because students at respected schools are given less of a chance at acceptance.

Diversity has undoubtedly improved at the University of Texas after the top ten percent rule was passed. The African-American population has increased by 32 percent and the Hispanic population has increased by 29 percent. Geographic and economic diversity has increased as well. Before the law was passed the university drew students from 616 high schools and it now takes students from around 853 high schools. There is no question as to the importance of diversity and giving students with less advantages the chance at a good education, but the state needs to find a fairer way to balance diversity and academic excellence when accepting students.

One of the biggest flaws in the top ten percent rule is the lack of consideration that every high school in Texas has different levels of educational standards and competition. Prestigious public schools are much more difficult and competitive than small town schools with lower standards of education and less competition. To be in the top 25 percent at a respected public school is in many cases more difficult to achieve than the top ten percent at smaller less respected schools. Therefore, students who are both intelligent and motivated, but don’t make the top ten percent at their respected schools, are often turned down from the university and less qualified students in the top ten percent at other schools are admitted in their place. These students are then forced to look at schools outside of Texas where they have a much higher chance at being accepted. About 70 percent of the incoming class at the University of Texas is admitted by the top ten percent rule, which makes the remaining 30 percent, unbelievably competitive. Public school students aren’t the only ones affected by the rule. Private school kids stand to lose the most because in many cases elite private schools don’t have a class ranking. Students who have to pass rigorous entrance exams just to attend private schools are clearly very intelligent. However, they stand little chance at being admitted to the University of Texas because the remaining 30 percent of available spaces are arguably more competitive than some Ivy League schools.

Having attended St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, a respected private school in Austin, I have seen first-hand the effects of the rule. One of my closest friends, a fellow classmate at St. Stephens, dreamt of attending the University of Texas, and worked tirelessly to get the best grades possible so he could get in. However, St. Stephen’s didn’t have a class ranking, and even though he graduated with honors, he was rejected because the top ten percent rule prevented the university from realizing how qualified he was. To see such an intelligent, hard-working, and dedicated student get turned down really opened my eyes to the serious problems caused by the top ten percent rule.

Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, describes the top ten percent rule as a “brain drain.” He realizes that it keeps some of the best and brightest Texas has to offer from staying in Texas and getting an education from the state school designed for them. Students leave the state and in a lot of cases end up moving away because their schools helped them get jobs in other places around the country and world. There have been numerous attempts to change the law, either capping a certain percentage of the incoming freshman class who are accepted under the top ten percent rule or replacing guaranteed acceptance with scholarship opportunities. None have been successful because the state is fearful that diversity would plummet and it would be seen as discrimination.

I want to settle down in Texas after school and want my children to be able to get the best education they can, private or public. If they want to attend the University of Texas, I'm worried that the top ten percent rule would make this much more difficult if they choose to get the best education possible in high school. I would almost consider sending them to an underperforming high school to increase their chances of being in the top ten percent, despite the fact that it would hinder their education as a whole. Many students today are doing just that. They are effectively cheating the system by choosing to attend small town schools, or underperforming city schools because they know they can do less work, still be in the top ten percent of their class, and get in over more qualified and dedicated students. The purpose of a state school is to provide a cheaper, but equally quality education for the best and most deserving students in that state. The top ten percent rule is effectively preventing this from happening at the University of Texas.

Works Cited

Embry, Jason. “Plan Caps Admission But Offers Scholarships.” The Austin American Statesman [Austin] 5 May 2007: n. pag. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. .

Glater, Jonathan D. “Diversity Plan Shaped in Texas Is Under Attack.” The New York Times 13 June 2004: n. pag. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. .

Pinhel, Rute. “Texas Top 10% Law.” Connecticut General Assembly. N.p., 15 Feb. 2008. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. .

Tienda, Marta, and Sunny Xinchun Niu. “Flagships, Feeders, and the Texas Top 10% Law: A Test of the ‘Brain Drain’ Hypothesis .” The Journal of Higher Education. The Ohio State University, 2006. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. .