At Texas A&M, the 10 percent plan has not led to diversity at nearly the levels achieved through the use of affirmative action. Therefore, the 10 percent plan cannot be held out as a model of success.
The Texas 10 percent plan guarantees students admission to their campus of choice while the Florida and California percent plans guarantee admission only to the main state university system.
The higher education systems in California, Florida and Texas vary widely in quality and standing. Both UCLA and Berkeley rank among the top institutions in the country, while neither of the Florida schools is nationally ranked. Of the two flagship universities in Texas, only UT-Austin is loosely comparable to the California flagships in terms of reputation. Even then, UT admits higher shares of applicants than either UCLA or Berkeley, the two schools that are most relevant to the possibilities on nationally competitive campuses. (See <www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/affirmativeaction/tristate.php> for more details.)
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