A loyal EMUTalk.org reader sent me news of an interesting tactic in progress at the University of Texas. UT-Austin is an institution that is in many ways similar to the University of Michigan: academically excellent, flagship school, major sports, and highly competitive in terms of admissions. But in Texas, if you are in the top 10% of your high school’s graduating class, you can get in to UT.
But in the face of budget cuts and other problems with this rule, UT president William Powers is playing hardball. From the Austin Statesman, “UT president warns of consequences to automatic-admission law.” Here are the opening paragraphs:
The University of Texas might be forced to cancel its entering summer class this year, stop accepting students from other states and countries, and eventually abolish athletics — including football — if the state’s automatic-admission law is not scaled back by the state Legislature, the school’s president warned Wednesday.
“I’m trying not to let that happen,” UT President William Powers Jr. said of such steps. “We’re not at that point. But we’re at the point of triage in making those kinds of decisions.”
Interesting in that it speaks to the broad and national reach of budget cuts at universities. But somehow, I have a feeling that the Texas legislature is going to pony up the money to pay for football. Just a guess.
