This professional report aims to examine, evaluate and analyze the Top Ten Percent Plan at the University of Texas at Austin (UT). House Bill 588 was enacted by
the Texas legislature on February 4, 1997 as a response to Hopwood and the dramatic subsequent decline in minority enrollment. The legislature sought a new
approach to admissions at all Texas state universities.
However, a stronger public policy is a must to ensure that the Top Ten Percent Plan affects all Texas high school students equally and effectively. During the past
three years, the Top Ten Percent Plan appears to have broadened the high school “sending and feeding” patterns to UT. This report will examine the
implementation at UT regarding the Top Ten Percent Plan. These findings will include: factors that have fostered development and barriers that have created some
hurdles during the implementation.
The research will examine and evaluate the various methods of investigation to include: participant and non-participant observation, literature reviews, comparative
analysis and current educational debates. The final result of the report will be to step towards revealing the obstacles and continued growth, along with success that
UT has displayed since the enactment of the Top Ten Percent Plan. If other Texas universities follow UT’s creative steps in increasing minority representation on
their campuses, the Top Ten Percent Plan could very well be a huge success.
