Only Texas seniors in the top 7% of their graduating class will be guaranteed admission to the University of Texas at Austin for the summer/fall of 2014, further raising the bar for automatic admission to one of Texas’ top public colleges.
Under a change to the statewide top 10% rule, only UT is allowed to limit the number of automatic admissions students to 75% of its incoming freshman class reserved for Texas residents. Since the change took effect in 2011, the percentage of those automatically admitted has been dropping.
In 2011 the number admitted through the “10% rule” dropped to 8%. In 2012 it rose to 9% then for next year the number will drop back down to 8%.
The law in Texas was originally intended to help minorities and students from rural areas break into Texas’ educational institutions, however, studies showed that Asians and whites benefitted in relation to Latinos in the state.
Latinos make up the majority — 50.3% — of Texas’ students.
Nonetheless, in an era where Texas’ K-12 educational system has been decimated by $4 billion in cuts, the likelihood that Latinos will benefit from this even more stringent university admissions policy is more unlikely.
[Image Via jahborgs]
Sara Inés Calderón is a journalist and writer who lives between Texas and California. Follow her on Twitter @SaraChicaD.
