Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Texas Senate tentatively approves limits on top 10 percent college admission law

The Dallas Morning News
06:31 AM CDT on Wednesday, March 25, 2009

By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
tstutz@dallasnews.com
AUSTIN – Texas’ top 10 percent law for automatic college admission would be limited to 60 percent of the incoming freshmen class at state universities under legislation tentatively approved Tuesday by the Senate.
The measure – pushed for by University of Texas officials – was approved despite warnings from some senators that it could depress minority enrollment at the University of Texas at Austin and other top schools.
But Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, author of the bill, rejected that argument, saying that UT and other universities will be watched closely to make sure that the percentage of minority students does not decline. If it does, she said, lawmakers could take corrective action.
The measure was tentatively approved on a 22-8 vote, with most of the no votes cast by Democrats.
In asking for support of the bill, Shapiro said UT-Austin is the only state institution now affected by the law, but in the next few years it is also expected to restrict student admissions at Texas A&M University and UT-Dallas.
The senator said 81 percent of incoming freshmen at UT-Austin last fall were admitted under the top 10 percent requirement, shutting out large numbers of other qualified students – many with higher SAT scores than those who were accepted.

Full Story: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/032509dntextop10percentlaw.69b1cd3c.html

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