Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: January 22, 1998

UT System News Release

Minority Offers Increase for U.T. Medical Schools

AUSTIN – The number of African-American and Hispanic students entering the four University of Texas System medical schools next fall is expected to increase significantly, based on the number of students offered admission so far.

Preliminary figures for the classes that will enter in fall 1998 show that 50 acceptances have been offered to African-American applicants (a 72 percent increase over the 29 offers in 1997). There have been 142 acceptances offered to Hispanic applicants for fall 1998 (a 31 percent increase over the 108 offers in 1997).

Admission determinations were made without the use of racial preferences, which were banned in Texas by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in its ruling in the Hopwood case.

Equally important, the increases have occurred without a drop in academic standards.

"While we know that everyone whom we have admitted will not enroll at one of our medical schools next fall, we are greatly encouraged at this point," said Dr. Charles B. Mullins, the U.T. System's executive vice chancellor for health affairs. "We are confident that next fall's first-year medical classes will be significantly more racially diverse than last year's classes, while they also meet the same high academic standards as previous classes. This speaks well for the future of the medical profession in Texas."

Officials attribute the increase in the minority offers of acceptance to changes made in the evaluation process of all applicants. Applications were scrutinized more carefully for background data that would indicate success in medical school and the practice of medicine, and less emphasis was placed on test scores and grade point averages.

In most cases, that resulted in more applicants being interviewed. The decision to offer admission was based on a wide variety of factors, including leadership, interpersonal and communication skills, and commitment to helping others.

The mean grade point average (gpa) and mean score on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) of the students accepted for 1998 did not drop significantly from 1997. The mean gpa was 3.66 for 1997 and 3.64 for 1998. The mean MCAT score was 30.1 for 1997 and 29.7 in for 1998. Those differences are not statistically significant, Mullins said.

"The academic quality of next fall's entering classes, as measured by grades and test scores, is well within the range of excellent performance that we require," Mullins said. "Of fundamental importance, however, are judgments about the character and values of an applicant. For example, we look for students who can relate well to people, who have high moral and ethical standards, and who care deeply about their fellow man. Without such qualities, even a gpa of 4.0 and a perfect MCAT score will not ensure that a person will be a good doctor."

U.T. System Chancellor William H. Cunningham said: "The medical schools have worked very hard to create an equitable admission process that adheres strictly to the law in the post-Hopwood era, and they deserve the congratulations of all Texans for doing an outstanding job. We are delighted that the preliminary results of this process indicate that the entering medical classes next fall will continue the U.T. System's long tradition of academic excellence, while also reflecting the diversity of our society."

Donald L. Evans, chairman of the U.T. System Board of Regents, also expressed pleasure at the results of the acceptances offered.

"The Board of Regents recognizes that one of its most fundamental oversight responsibilities is to ensure that admission policies and procedures uphold the values of both high academic standards and broad public access, while also, of course, conforming strictly with all legal requirements," Evans said. "This report on medical school admissions for next fall indicates that the U.T. medical schools are meeting all aspects of the difficult challenges before us. In so doing, they are providing admirable leadership in this area for Texas and, indeed, the nation."

The four U.T. System medical schools are located at the U.T. Medical Branch at Galveston, U.T. Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, the U.T. Health Science Center at Houston, and the U.T. Health Science Center at San Antonio.