The University of Austin in Texas has thrown out the woke playbook on college admissions, introducing a system so revolutionary it’s got the entire academic establishment clutching their diversity statements.
At a Glance
- University of Austin automatically admits students who score over 1460 on the SAT, 33 on the ACT, or 105 on the CLT – no race-based considerations
- The new “merit-first” approach comes after the Supreme Court’s landmark 6-3 ruling ending race-based admissions practices
- Dean Ben Crocker stated they only care if students are “intelligent, brilliant, and committed” – not their gender, race, or ethnicity
- Despite lacking accreditation, UATX has secured enough private funding to offer free tuition to its first batch of students
- Other Texas universities are reluctantly adjusting their admissions while trying to maintain diversity initiatives through other means
Common Sense Comes to College Admissions
While elite universities across America continue their hand-wringing over the Supreme Court’s decision to end race-based college admissions, one Texas institution is boldly charting a different course. The University of Austin (UATX) has implemented what they call “the most meritocratic admissions policy in the country” – a refreshingly straightforward approach that evaluates students based on their academic abilities rather than their demographic checkboxes. This commonsense policy automatically admits students who score above certain thresholds on standardized tests, with remaining spots awarded to those who demonstrate genuine intellectual prowess and commitment.
UATX Dean Ben Crocker put it plainly, cutting through the usual academic double-speak that permeates higher education. “We just want to know, are you intelligent? Are you brilliant? And are you committed to building a great university with us? Our criteria is very simple. We’re not interested in whether you’re the right gender, the right race, the right ethnicity, it is merit first for us,” Crocker stated, articulating a principle that shouldn’t be revolutionary but somehow has become exactly that in today’s backward academic landscape.
The Supreme Court Finally Got Something Right
The seismic shift at UATX follows the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in June 2023 that ended decades of race-conscious admissions policies. In a 6-3 decision that predictably split along ideological lines, the Court determined that considering race in college admissions violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause – something any clear-thinking American could have told them decades ago. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the logical conclusion that “eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it,” not just the kinds that are politically inconvenient.
“the Court has permitted race-based college admissions only within the confines of narrow restrictions: such admissions programs must comply with strict scrutiny, may never use race as a stereotype or negative, and must — at some point — end” – Chief Justice John Roberts
Of course, the usual suspects erupted in predictable outrage. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson declared that “deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life” – apparently missing the entire point that treating people equally under the law is precisely how you start addressing disparities in real life. Meanwhile, diversity bureaucrats across the country have been scrambling to find workarounds, determined to continue their social engineering projects by any means necessary.
A University Built on Merit, Not Quotas
The University of Austin, established in 2021, represents a direct challenge to the entrenched academic orthodoxy. Unlike traditional universities that have spent decades building massive diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucracies, UATX operates on a simple principle: intellectual excellence matters above all. Students who score over 1460 on the SAT, over 33 on the ACT, or over 105 on the Classic Learning Test are automatically admitted, pending basic eligibility requirements. This transparent approach eliminates the shadowy, subjective evaluation processes that have enabled discrimination in the guise of “holistic review.”
“What we’ve done is create the most meritocratic admissions policy in the country” – University of Austin Dean Ben Crocker
Unlike established universities reluctantly complying with the Supreme Court ruling while desperately clinging to their diversity initiatives, UATX embraces academic merit as its defining value. The school has attracted substantial private funding, allowing it to offer free tuition to its inaugural class – proving that excellence and opportunity can coexist without government-mandated discrimination. This bold experiment in higher education stands as a beacon for those who believe that treating individuals based on their abilities rather than their immutable characteristics is not just constitutional, but morally right.
