University of Houston adopts top 20% policy

• School dodges disputed top 10% admissions law

The University of Houston has decided to automatically admit applicants in the top 20 percent of their graduating class, sidestepping the controversial top 10 percent admissions law. University officials said the revised policy would be implemented in the fall 2006 semester regardless of ongoing legislative attempts to change the law. "We think this [new policy] will serve us very well because we will get good students that have worked hard to get here," said Susanna Finnell, the university's admissions director. The new policy was announced this week after months of study by a task force of faculty members, administrators and other educators. The top 10 percent law was enacted after a 1996 U.S. Court of Appeals decision made affirmative action illegal in Texas public universities. Supporters said the rule would produce a diverse student body by admitting the top 10 percent from all schools, including those with predominantly Hispanic or black populations. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 2003 has since allowed public universities to use race as one factor in admissions. University administrators, including University of Texas at Austin President Larry Faulkner, have urged legislators to change the law. They say many qualified students who aren't in the top 10 percent are leaving the state because they aren't getting into the best Texas universities. [more]