The University of Texas at Austin is tightening its admissions policy regarding automatic admissions of top Texas high school grads.
State law guarantees admission for students in the top 10 percent of their senior class at any public university, but lawmakers this year approved an exception at the UT system's flagship campus in Austin.
So UT President William Powers is tightening the UT System flagship campus' admissions guarantee to the top 8 percent of the state's high school grads, starting in 2011.
Powers made the declaration this week in a letter to state Education Commissioner Robert Scott. The 10 percent rule remains in place for the other 37 public schools in Texas.
Powers had complained during the last legislative session that the school had lost control of its admissions procedures.
