By Shelley Kofler, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-838435.mp3
Austin, TX – Higher education bills important to North Texas will face crucial votes in Austin as early as Wednesday. Senators will consider legislation passed in the House to create and fund elite research universities including UT-Dallas, UT-Arlington, and University of North Texas.
The House will consider reforming the 10-percent college admissions law which has already passed the Senate. KERA's Shelley Kofler says Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch will try to pass that on the House floor.
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Since 1998 a Texas high school senior graduating in the top 10-percent has had the right to attend the public university of his or her choice. The rule was adopted, in part, to promote greater racial diversity on campuses
The unintended consequence at the state's largest public university, UT-Austin, is that top- ten percent students now make up 86 percent of incoming freshman. UT-Austin says that prevents it from admitting other talented students.
House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch says the top ten percent rule will soon have a similar effect on Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Dallas isn't far behind.
Branch: We need to solve that because you can't fill out your colleges of arts and sciences cause an automatically admitted student can come in and say I want to be a sociology major, and they all can say that and you can't make that person study a certain subject matter
Branch in the House and Plano's Florence Shapiro in the Senate have authored similar bills that would cap the number of top 10-percent freshmen. Branch wants to limit the required number to 50-percent of an incoming class. He says opponents will raise concerns that fewer top ten students will reduce ethnic and geographic diversity, which is why he wants a sunset measure in the bill.
Branch: At some point the reform would go away unless you acted so there would be a chance to revisit whether or not the claims on either side has worked.
Efforts to reform the 10-percent rule have failed in several sessions, but Branch believes the kind of support that lead to passage in the Senate also exists in the House.