The University will admit a record number of high school students who qualify under the top 10 percent law this year.

The number of students admitted under this law is up 10 percent since last year, said Gary Lavergne, program manager of the Office of Admissions.

“About 81 percent of the spaces that we have for Texas high school graduates will be taken up by these automatic admissions,” Lavergne said.

He added that this number is preliminary and may be as high as 85 percent.

The top 10 percent law was passed in Texas House Bill 588 in 1997 after the Hopwood v. Texas lawsuit against the University’s affirmative action policies. The bill was designed to “increase the chances of enrolling a diverse class,” according to a report prepared by Lavergne and Bruce Walker, associate vice provost of student affairs and director of admissions.

Lavergne said the diversity of the admitted students under the law in 2008 will remain about the same from the 2007 freshman class despite the increase.