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unusualmusic_lj_archiveReport on the 10% rule in Texas
Broken down into its simplest parts, the 10% rule in Texas education basically guarantees a space in Texan state universities for the top 10 percent of all high schools in Texas. It was instituted after affirmative action laws in the state were struck down by the courts. It seems to have worked pretty well:
Ten years later, we know a little more about the law: It works. Maybe even a little too well, given that the president of the University of Texas asked the Legislature last week to scale it back.
Examples of its success at the University of Texas at Austin include:
* Students admitted under the 10% rule get better grades than other students. Plus, they graduate at higher rates.
* Racial diversity at the Austin campus improved. The number of Hispanic students has risen by 29% and the African-American student population by 32%.
Now, however, Texas University President William Powers is complaining that the net effect of the rule is that talented students who fall below the ten percent measure are ending up at less good universities
What a dilemma. The plan works so well that they are running out of college space for all the good students out there. *Shakes head* The solution to the problem is not to cut the percentage of people from high schools that get automatically put into state universities. Its to upgrade the bad schools and build more of them. Sheesh.
Broken down into its simplest parts, the 10% rule in Texas education basically guarantees a space in Texan state universities for the top 10 percent of all high schools in Texas. It was instituted after affirmative action laws in the state were struck down by the courts. It seems to have worked pretty well:
Ten years later, we know a little more about the law: It works. Maybe even a little too well, given that the president of the University of Texas asked the Legislature last week to scale it back.
Examples of its success at the University of Texas at Austin include:
* Students admitted under the 10% rule get better grades than other students. Plus, they graduate at higher rates.
* Racial diversity at the Austin campus improved. The number of Hispanic students has risen by 29% and the African-American student population by 32%.
Now, however, Texas University President William Powers is complaining that the net effect of the rule is that talented students who fall below the ten percent measure are ending up at less good universities
What a dilemma. The plan works so well that they are running out of college space for all the good students out there. *Shakes head* The solution to the problem is not to cut the percentage of people from high schools that get automatically put into state universities. Its to upgrade the bad schools and build more of them. Sheesh.
