Some letters written by legislators recommending prospective college students have gotten more attention in recent months. Lawmakers have endorsed would-be University of Texas at Austin students who possess “a unique combination of self-confidence, intelligence, leadership, and a fundamental decency,” are “accomplished more than any parent or adult could ask of a young person” and have “scored well in piano competitions.” In some cases, the writer was barely acquainted with the applicant. In others, the legislator was familiar enough to speak in detail about the student’s work. And in rare instances, the two were related.
Legislators from both parties have sent these letters directly to UT-Austin President Bill Powers. In return, they received a form letter from Powers thanking them for reaching out and, in a number of cases, for “everything you have done — and continue to do — for higher education in Texas.”
Prompted by a University of Texas System regent’s allegations that lawmakers have undue influence on the admissions process, the
University of Texas System reviewed nearly 80 recommendation letters written by lawmakers from 2009 through 2013 that were submitted outside the prescribed admissions process. They found that the letters paid off for many of the applicants.
Of 16 who were seeking admittance to UT-Austin’s law school, eight were accepted. For 63 UT-Austin undergraduate applicants examined during the review, 37 won admission for an acceptance rate that exceeded 58 percent, compared with a 23 percent rate among the larger group of comparable applicants.
