Various state university systems have implemented alternative options concerning their desire to diversify the classrooms throughout the state system. Such cases as Hopwood and Bakke have placed significant restraints against affirmative actions that public universities must now create a system of admissions that follows judicial rule but also one that creates a student body population conducive to learning. Their ultimate goal is to have interaction between the cultures to broaden the minds of their students in a higher education environment. Universities are ultimately trying to “diversify” their enrollment for the supposed better good of their academic experience.

Nonetheless, programs such as the “Top 10 Percent” Law (House Bill 588) that have been implemented at various Texas universities are suddenly being questioned for their productivity. The University of Texas at Austin has been at the center spotlight amidst the controversy. Under their admissions guideline, the law “guarantees that Texas high school graduates who rank in the top 10 percent of their senior class to be admitted to any state institution of higher learning.” This program was enacted when former governor of Texas, George W. Bush, opted for an “affirmative access” procedure that would give automatic admissions to a state university of a student’s choice no matter what their academic history or test scores happened to be. The reasoning behind a plan such as this is to encourage enrollment of Blacks and Hispanics into a university system by allowing guaranteed admission. Geographically speaking, there are many high schools in the state of Texas that are predominantly attended by minorities. However, by establishing this statewide consensus schools such as UT are able to hypothetically admit low income minority students whose academic records wouldn’t be as comparable to that of Caucasian students in the application process.

As with any situation, there are always unintended consequences of implementing such an encompassing program that doesn’t distinguish a student on a multitude of factors but basically only by their class rank. A problem such as this can raise concerns on the quality of students that are being attracted. Every school district and every high school teaches at a different level in comparison to the other. Are the students being admitted academically prepared to handle a university level education? Are they able to compete with their entering freshman class? These are a few issues that must be addressed. One begins to wonder whether or not “affirmative access” is a good solution to a growing dilemma and whether or not the admissions program is actually fulfilling its promise – to give more equal opportunity.