Texas' 10% Rule More Effective than Affirmative Action?

I was reading through the news on Yahoo when I came across this article from USA Today. I searched ATS but found nothing concerning it.

Ten years ago, after a federal court blocked Texas colleges from considering race as a factor in admissions, the state, with George W. Bush as governor, came up with an innovative alternative. In an attempt to make affirmative action colorblind, the top 10% of graduates at each of the state's high schools was granted automatic admission to state universities.

Since this went into effect in Texas more minorities have gotten into better colleges based on their high school class standing than were getting in through affirmative action. This, to me, seems like a good thing and a better way of determining who gets into college than basing it off race and turning down one student because another student of a different race applied and student #2 will fill the racial quotas.

On the other side, those who do not like the 10% rule say that by taking the top 10% from each school some students who do extremely well but fall just below the top 10% may not get into a good college. I could see this happening, but only rarely. The way I see it, if you get good grades in high school and do well on your SAT/ACT you are most likely getting into college if you apply.

The text of the bill can be found here for those who wish to read it.

I would like to hear everyone's thoughts on this. Assuming you don't live in Texas, or a state with a similar bill, would you support something like this?

This seems like a very good initiative!

Rather than taking substandard candidates just because of their racial profile, taking the top 10% of the school year achieves an educated class which who may be beneficial to the economy.

Thumbs up from me

I live in Texas and like this policy. Being in the top 10% GUARANTEES admission to any state university, but if you're a good student with other good credentials, but don't make the top 10% I doubt you have to worry about not getting into a good school. You simply may not get into you're no. one choice.

That was my thought. I highly doubt that a college would turn down an excellent student regardless of their class rank. Now if only this would catch on in the rest of the country. It seems to me that those who rank in the upper part of their class are the ones more likely to want to go to college and this only guarantees that the best students are given the opportunity to go.

One consequence (good or bad) of this rule might be that people will shop for "easy" schools. A student who lives in an affluent neighborhood with an affluent school may feel he has a better chance finishing in the top 10% by going to a school that is "on the wrong side of the tracks."

I heard of people choosing colleges based on this criteria. Graduate schools consider grade point averages (and most college classes are graded on a curve) and class rank when making admissions decisions. Thus, as the theory goes, one can have a better chance of getting into a good graduate school if they are the smartest kid at a mediocre college rather than an average or less than average student at an elite college.