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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                 Matt Dulin                   Tony Hernandez      Jim Parsons
                Jason Poland             Dusti Rhodes           Blake Whitaker

New admissions standard small step toward growth

There's a new admissions policy on the books that could affect future generations of Cougars and the direction of the University.

In the wake of the state's debate on the top 10 percent rule, which stipulates high school graduates who graduate in the top tenth of their class be automatically admitted to the public university of their choice, UH administrators have opted to take the policy one step further. UH has chosen to automatically admit the top 20 percent, with the next 30 percent required to have a score of at least 1000 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test or 21 on the American College Test.

At The University of Texas, the policy has come under fire for not giving the university enough say in shaping the student body, as more than 70 percent of applicants are in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. 

UH doesn't have that problem, however, and should the new policy begin to encroach on diversity, there is a system in place that allows individual review for students with extenuating circumstances who don't fall into the first two categories.

Given the increase in scope of the automatic admissions and the safeguards present to ensure diversity, the new policy, which will go into effect Fall 2006, doesn't sound half bad. It is, however, a middle-ground solution; at this point, UH 

doesn't draw the majority of the cream of the Texas crop, so relaxing the rule won't necessarily have a tangible impact right away. Those who fall between the top 10 and top 20 percent could likely gain admission to UH with little problem as it is.

What it does is potentially provide additional incentive for those students to choose the University. It sends the message UH is growing, and very interested in bringing them along for the ride.

It'd be nice to have to deal with a flood of top 10 percenters, but that isn't the case right now. The new rule, though, may make it easier for UH to raise its standards without sacrificing diversity.