The University of Texas at Austin
AUSTIN – Beginning in fall 2016, the University of Texas at Austin will automatically admit applicants in the top 8 percent of their graduating classes.
For the past two years, those in the top 7 percent have been guaranteed admission. UT-Austin President Bill Powers confirmed the 8 percent automatic admission in a Sept. 9 letter to Texas Education Agency Commissioner Michael Williams and various lawmakers.
Of the 12,379 high school admits into the 2014 freshman class, 8,979 were automatically admitted, according to estimates UT-Austin released to the Houston Chronicle. University staff could not estimate how many additional top students would be admitted in 2016.
“We do anticipate a larger number of auto-admits when that change goes into effect in 2016, though there is no specific estimate,” said UT-Austin Director of Media Outreach J.B. Bird.
While state law requires Texas’ public universities to automatically admit applicants who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school senior class, the statute was modified in 2011 to exempt UT-Austin. Instead, the flagship is required to ensure 75 percent of its freshman class is made up of top ranked students each year. The remaining percentage go through a holistic review process that takes into account factor such as academic performance and diversity.
“The change will give us the option to increase the size of the class and still be compliant with the 75% mandate. The change does not mean we have to increase the size of the class, but again, we have the flexibility to do so if it best serves the University, its family, and the people of Texas,” said Bird.
But in 2014, only 72.5 percent of its freshman class made up top ranking high schoolers. This is because the flagship saw an influx of qualified applicants who were not in the top 7 percent of their classes, said Bird, so the school made a decision to admit more holistic review applicants at the risk of not reaching the 75 percent benchmark.
“To do so, we would have had to admit a smaller class,” said Bird. In the end, the university made the decision to admit 400 additional applicants through the holistic review process, thus lowering their rate.
When the changes was instituted in summer/fall 2011, the university automatically admitted those in the top 8 percent of their classes. This rate was upped to 9 percent the next year, with a record-breaking freshman class of more than 8,000 students in 2012. Automatic admissions rates then dropped back down to 7 percent the last two years.
Lauren McGaughy is a reporter in the Houston Chronicle’s Austin bureau. She can be reached at lauren.mcgaughy@chron.com or on Twitter @lmcgaughy.
