{"id":2663478,"date":"2026-09-17T16:15:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T20:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntexas-schools-like-ut-austin-use-this-rule-to-artificially-boost-diversity-instead-of-merit\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T16:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T20:20:11","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntexas-schools-like-ut-austin-use-this-rule-to-artificially-boost-diversity-instead-of-merit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntexas-schools-like-ut-austin-use-this-rule-to-artificially-boost-diversity-instead-of-merit\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools Like UT Use Rule To Boost &#8216;Diversity&#8217; Instead Of Merit"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntexas-schools-like-ut-austin-use-this-rule-to-artificially-boost-diversity-instead-of-merit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2663478&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the demographic and admissions policies at the University of Texas at Austin,highlighting how certain laws and rules have artificially increased diversity through non-merit-based means. Despite a diverse student body-comprising 68.9% minorities and a low percentage of white males-these figures are partly attributable to policies like the &#8220;Top 10 Percent Law,&#8221; which guarantees admission to the top students of each high school rather than based solely on academic merit. This system favors students from lower-performing schools, often associated with minority populations, over high performers from elite or private schools.Additionally, Texas\u2019s demographic changes as 2000 show a shift toward a higher Hispanic and Asian population, even as white americans become a minority in the state. The article criticizes these policies for discriminating against high-achieving students from predominantly white and Asian backgrounds and notes the broader implications of systemic demographic shifts and admissions practices.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Main_Building_(University_of_Texas_at_Austin)_-_DSC08595.jpg\">Daderot \/ Wikimedia Commons \/ Public Domain<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/17\/texas-schools-like-ut-austin-use-this-rule-to-artificially-boost-diversity-instead-of-merit\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Texas Schools Like UT Austin Use This Rule To Artificially Boost \u2018Diversity\u2019 Instead Of Merit&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/17\/texas-schools-like-ut-austin-use-this-rule-to-artificially-boost-diversity-instead-of-merit\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Texas Schools Like UT Austin Use This Rule To Artificially Boost \u2018Diversity\u2019 Instead Of Merit&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/17\/texas-schools-like-ut-austin-use-this-rule-to-artificially-boost-diversity-instead-of-merit\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/17\/texas-schools-like-ut-austin-use-this-rule-to-artificially-boost-diversity-instead-of-merit\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Texas Schools Like UT Austin Use This Rule To Artificially Boost \u2018Diversity\u2019 Instead Of Merit&#038;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/17\/texas-schools-like-ut-austin-use-this-rule-to-artificially-boost-diversity-instead-of-merit\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\">                     <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); pfTrackEvent(&#039;Texas Schools Like UT Austin Use This Rule To Artificially Boost \u2018Diversity\u2019 Instead Of Merit&#039;); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &#038; Email\">                     <span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span>                     <\/a>                 <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div class=\"pf-content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The recent reaction to the video of a large section of seemingly South Asian <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/15\/assimilation-means-more-than-going-to-a-football-game\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fans<\/a> cheering at the University of Texas at Austin football game drew attention to the skewed demographics at that school and the state\u2019s university system writ large.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Racial and ethnic minorities <a href=\"https:\/\/www.collegefactual.com\/colleges\/the-university-of-texas-at-austin\/student-life\/diversity\/#ethnic_diversity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">make up<\/a> 68.9 percent of undergraduates, and 56.2 percent of undergraduates are women. Meanwhile, only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.collegeevaluator.com\/institute\/the-university-of-texas-at-austin\/enrollment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">13 percent<\/a> of enrolled undergraduates at UT Austin are white males.<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1433852025\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 fdrlst__b89e9-entity-placement\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That number surprised many, but Texas law has been artificially inflating racial \u201cdiversity\u201d at its universities since the 1990s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While on the one hand, Texas law requires that no more than 10 percent of non-residents of the state be admitted to universities, there is another 10 percent rule that helps to artificially boost \u201cdiversity\u201d at its schools.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Texas had attempted to use race as an admissions criterion in the 1990s, but in 1996, the federal Fifth Circuit Court <a href=\"https:\/\/reportcenter.highered.texas.gov\/reports\/data\/top-10-percent-report-for-fall-2009-2019\/#:~:text=The%20original%20%E2%80%9CTop%2010%20Percent,grade%20point%20average%20in%20the\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruled<\/a> that Texas was not allowed to do so.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The decision had immediate impacts that revealed how race-based admissions had affected admissions. The class <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/cRtaW#selection-1437.0-1444.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">admitted<\/a> immediately after the 1996 ruling saw major decreases of Hispanic (minus-15 percent) and black (minus-25 percent) enrollment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1997, the Texas legislature responded to the court decision with an explicit attempt to shoehorn in racial \u201cdiversity\u201d to the UT system. The Texas legislature passed the \u201cTop 10 Percent Law,\u201d which required that the top 10 percent of each private or public high school graduating class would receive automatic offers of admission into the UT system or any state-funded university.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That wiped merit out of the equation, because the rule does not account for the 10 percent of academic performers in Texas, but rather the top performers at each high school. Doing so allowed lower-income, lower-achieving schools overall (which typically correlate heavily with non-white areas) guaranteed slots because the students were only competing against others at their school, instead of applicants across Texas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2009 decision allowed UT Austin even greater ability to find students from outside the 10 percent framework. Now they are only <a href=\"https:\/\/admissions.utexas.edu\/apply\/review-decision-process\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">required<\/a> to fill 75 percent of Texas resident slots with automatic admissions, and the top 5 percent are guaranteed slots at the Austin flagship campus. That means only 15 percent of UT Austin slots given to Texas high schoolers are truly based on merit, before the 90 percent threshold is met and the last 10 percent can be filled with out-of-state or foreign students.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result is that the high-performing students attending Texas\u2019s top high schools, which are overwhelmingly white and Asian, are being discriminated against by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-time-to-hold-democrats-accountable-for-bidens-education-crisis\/\" title=\"It\u2019s Time To Hold Democrats Accountable For Biden\u2019s Education Crisis\">lower-performing students<\/a> who happen to outperform their low-performing classmates. In other words, a class of 500 students with an average SAT score of 1300 would have the same number of slots for the same size class where the average SAT score is 1050.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The percentage system discriminates against high performers at smaller schools as well. If a student wants to get into UT Austin from a private high school with a high-performing graduating class of 200, they must be in the top 10 students there. If they are number 11, they will not be guaranteed a slot. On the other hand, a public school with a 1,000-student graduating class has 50 slots up for grabs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All 200 students at the private school could outperform the 1,000-student public school, but that does not matter in Texas. Moreover, it is possible that a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-mamdani-wonthe-collapse-of-patriotism-among-affluent-white-people-fueled-the-socialists-rise\/\" title=\"How Mamdani won:The collapse of patriotism among affluent white people fueled the socialist\u2019s rise\">high-performing high school<\/a> could send its top 5 percent of students to Ivy Leagues, other private institutions, or out-of-state schools, but that does not mean it falls to the next student in line. Rather, it means that the school did not use its UT Austin slots for that graduating year, and the next-best students are still locked out of UT Austin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, that system is still in place, and when the race-jiggering admissions policies are coupled with Texas\u2019 demographic change over time, we see the heavily skewed demographics at schools like UT Austin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since 2000, Hispanics have made up the vast majority of demographic change in Texas, but while Asians represent a much smaller percent of the overall population, they have more than doubled their share of the population in the past 25 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2000, white people <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/quickfacts\/fact\/table\/TX\/PST045225\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">made up<\/a> 52.4 percent of the Texas population, while Hispanics made up 32 percent and Asians, which includes Indians, made up 2.7 percent. Census Bureau <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/quickfacts\/fact\/table\/TX\/PST045225\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">estimates<\/a> for 2025 show that whites are now down to 37.3 percent, Hispanics are up to 40.9 percent, and Asians are at 6.7 percent. According to Every Texan, Indians <a href=\"https:\/\/everytexan.org\/2024\/10\/03\/data-brief-celebrating-asian-and-pacific-islander-texans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">make up<\/a> the largest share of Asians in Texas at 32 percent of the total.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As The Federalist CEO Sean Davis noted, \u201cPeople are upset by the systemic displacement and replacement of Americans, specifically white men, with foreigners across every major institution in America. That it is happening in a state like Texas makes it even more stark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the fact that white Americans are now a minority in Texas, the state still tips the scales in favor of non-whites in their admissions, making the burden of any prospective white students to be accepted into schools much harder than any other group.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. As an investigative journalist, he previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Breccan F. Thies<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreccanFThies\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@BreccanFThies<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/breccan-thies\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags no-print bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/college-admissions\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">college admissions<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/demographic-crisis\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">demographic crisis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/demographic-decline\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">demographic decline<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/demographics\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Demographics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/h-1b\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">H-1B<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/indian\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Indian<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mass-migration\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">mass migration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/racial-quotas\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">racial quotas<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/texas\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Texas<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/university-of-texas\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">University of Texas<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas&#8217;s biased admissions favor minorities over high performers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2663479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Main_Building_University_of_Texas_at_Austin_-_DSC08595.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[11136,85830,51272,5152,85831],"class_list":["post-2663478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-admissions","tag-college-selection","tag-diversity-2","tag-education","tag-ut"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Main_Building_University_of_Texas_at_Austin_-_DSC08595.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2663478"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2663487,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663478\/revisions\/2663487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2663479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2663478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2663478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2663478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}