College of Charleston's proposal for a ten percent acceptance procedure is modeled after the state of Texas' "Top 10% Rule." This law was passed in 1997, and guaranteed admission to all state-funded universities to Texas students who graduated in the top ten percent of their high school classes.
In 2008, several high school seniors who had been denied admission at the University of Texas-Austin filed a lawsuit against the university. The students argued that the University of Texas-Austin could not use race as a factor in admission processes if there were other race-neutral options that would have the same results on diversity.
A federal district judge found in favor of the University of Texas, stating that the University had complied with the admission requirements laid out in Grutter v. Bollinger, a case that started at the University of Michigan Law School which followed an admission policy that sought to achieve student body diversity.
Additionally, the court cited a University of Texas-Austin study from 2002, which found that 79 percent of the university's individual courses that year had zero or one African-American students and 30 percent of the courses had zero or one Hispanic students. Thus, the court decided that while race neutral options had been considered, these options were not a viable way for the University of Texas system to maintain and increase diversity.
In January 2011, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case and upheld the ruling in favor of the University of Texas. In June 2011, the full court decided not to rehear the lawsuit, letting the decision of the three-member panel stand. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in February 2012.
In a 7-1 ruling released June 2013, the Court did not overturn affirmative action generally, but did emphasize that affirmative action programs need to be more strictly reviewed. The Court explained that the program must pass a test of "strict scrutiny," proving an absence of alternatives that do not include race as a means to diversify the student body. The case is being sent back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in order to determine if the University of Texas-Austin's affirmative action program passes this test
In 2008, several high school seniors who had been denied admission at the University of Texas-Austin filed a lawsuit against the university. The students argued that the University of Texas-Austin could not use race as a factor in admission processes if there were other race-neutral options that would have the same results on diversity.
A federal district judge found in favor of the University of Texas, stating that the University had complied with the admission requirements laid out in Grutter v. Bollinger, a case that started at the University of Michigan Law School which followed an admission policy that sought to achieve student body diversity.
Additionally, the court cited a University of Texas-Austin study from 2002, which found that 79 percent of the university's individual courses that year had zero or one African-American students and 30 percent of the courses had zero or one Hispanic students. Thus, the court decided that while race neutral options had been considered, these options were not a viable way for the University of Texas system to maintain and increase diversity.
In January 2011, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case and upheld the ruling in favor of the University of Texas. In June 2011, the full court decided not to rehear the lawsuit, letting the decision of the three-member panel stand. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in February 2012.
In a 7-1 ruling released June 2013, the Court did not overturn affirmative action generally, but did emphasize that affirmative action programs need to be more strictly reviewed. The Court explained that the program must pass a test of "strict scrutiny," proving an absence of alternatives that do not include race as a means to diversify the student body. The case is being sent back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in order to determine if the University of Texas-Austin's affirmative action program passes this test
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