We should be looking at test scores special talents leadership ability personal achievements and other relevant student academics yet we are limiting our students in the state of Texas - Sen. Florence Shapiro

The Senate Higher Education Committee last week voted 4-1 approving Senate Bill 175 by Senator Shapiro which caps the number of students admitted to a state university based on automatic admission and offers a more holistic approach to recruiting new students.
SB 175 caps the number of admissions in any given freshman class based on the top ten percent rule at half the incoming class. The process will work from the top down: First the top one percent applicants will be admitted then the top two percent and so on until the cap is reached. Following this process all additional applicants will be placed in the general applicant pool.
We should be looking at test scores special talents leadership ability personal achievements and other relevant student academics yet we are limiting our students in the state of Texas Shapiro said.
While UT Austin is the only state university currently approaching full capacity for top ten percent students Shapiro says that Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Dallas will soon face similar problems. Texas passed a rule in 1997 guaranteeing admission to any state school to any high school senior that graduated in the top ten percent in his or her class. Today the University of Texas at Austins freshmen class is made up of 82 percent of top 10 percent admissions. Without change this single criterion will be the only consideration for admission. UT President Bill Powers says that by 2015 there will be no room in the UT freshman class for students from other states or countries if the Top Ten Percent Rule stands It has become a crisis for us. Were simply out of space.