Starting in the fall of 2026, students from Texas would have to rank in the top 5% of their class at high school to qualify for automatic admission for the University of Texas at Austin. This moves the previous threshold, set at the top 6%, down another notch in a race that is becoming increasingly competitive for students.

The new policy was announced by UT Austin President Jay Hartzell. He added that the university was getting record demand for its spots on campus. Last year alone, UT received close to 73,000 applications—a number that keeps growing.

“We want to make sure that the best students in Texas can get into UT, but shaving off 5% will help us absorb the growing demand while continuing to meet our obligation to Texas residents,” a UT spokesperson shared at a public meeting.

This policy shift could translate to Jordan High students working even harder to earn top spots in their classes to earn automatic admission.

Jordan’s college and career counselor, Demi Stillinger, noted that the surge in applications likely influenced the decision.

“I think the influx of the number of applications they were receiving really pushed them to make this decision and wouldn’t be changing anything in the question of who is being admitted,” she said.

Some students at Jordan said they are indifferent to the news.

“For the future classes that have larger class size in terms of students, I think it is better to have a smaller percentage as it forces the students to compete more competitively and foster a greater sense of academic rigor” said Sanjay Sreedhar, a senior applying to UT Austin.

Although this policy might result in more stress, it may turn out to be an opportunity for Jordan High students to cast a wide net in applying to colleges. For many of Jordan’s top students, Class of 2026 included, the change has been used for motivation to make their applications much stronger, considering a wide array of universities beyond the obvious choice of UT Austin.