Says race is used as a factor in some admissions.
The University of Texas System has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court admitting that they use racial discrimination as one factor in the admission process, and they plan on continuing to do so, 1200 WOAI news reports.
The University says race is considered as one of many factors in determining which students are admitted to the flagship college in Austin. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this fall in what is expected to be the most important ruling in the hotly contested Affirmative Action debate in a decade, and which could guide federal policy covering the use of race in admissions, employment, and other factors for the coming twenty years.
In its brief, the University says the vast majority of it's students are admitted through what is called the 'Ten Percent Rule,' a 1995 law which mandates that the top ten percent of the graduating class of every Texas high school be guaranteed admission to a state university.
The Ten Percent Rule generally guarantees a student body which represents the demographic makeup of the state. Since neighborhoods often self-segregate, many schools are overwhelmingly African American or Latino in enrollment, meaning the top ten percent of the graduating classes of those schools will be minority students, who will then move on to the University of Texas.
But the University says it does in fact use race as one of many factors in determining the admission of the students who are not covered under the Ten Percent Law. But the University stresses that race is used 'very narrowly,' and there is no 'quota' of minority enrollment, which would violate the 2003 University of Michigan decision.
"We are confident we will prevail in this case, and this decision will bring benefit to American higher education," U.T. Austin President William Powers said.
Two Anglo students who claim they were passed over for admission in favor of less qualified minority applicants are suing, claiming the use of race in any way to determine college admission is illegal.
