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Frisco ISD and Prosper ISD · Guide

Texas automatic admission (top 10%)

Texas students in the top 10% of their graduating class can be admitted automatically to most Texas public universities. Here's how it works for Frisco ISD and Prosper ISD students, from state law and each university's own pages.

Last checked November 10, 2026About 6 min readUnofficial

Try the class rank calculator → Type your rank and class size to see if you're in the top 10% or UT's top 5%.

Unofficial guide. Universities set their rules and deadlines each year, and some numbers for later classes aren't announced yet. Always confirm with each university's admissions office, your school counselor and the official sources linked at the bottom.

The top 10% rule

Under Texas Education Code §51.803, a Texas public university must admit you if you:

  • graduate in the top 10% of your graduating class from an accredited Texas high school,
  • earn the Distinguished Level of Achievement (it needs Algebra II and 4 science credits; Frisco ISD and Prosper ISD students are on it by default), or meet the college-entrance test score route (see below),
  • apply by the university's own deadline, and
  • start college within the two school years after you graduate.

By the end of your junior year, your transcript must show whether you've met, or are on schedule to meet, the Distinguished Level. If you couldn't finish it only because a course wasn't available to you (scheduling, no room, or another reason you couldn't control), you still count as meeting it.

The top 10% of a class can't hold more than 10% of the class, and your school reports your rank as a number out of the class size (for example 45 of 800). A university may admit you for the summer session before the fall instead of the fall itself.

A separate law (§51.804) lets each university choose to also admit the top 25%; that's up to each university.

Which class rank counts

  • The state rule: your rank at the end of 11th grade, the middle of 12th grade, or graduation, whichever is most recent at the application deadline.
  • UT Austin asks for your transcript "with your class rank for the latest semester you completed prior to the application deadline."
  • Your school must tell you in writing: by 14 days after the last day of fall classes, it notifies every eligible senior and every junior in the top 10%, and their parents.

How rank works in each district: in Frisco ISD, exact rank is published only for the top 10%, and 9th–11th graders see rank information in the Student Portal in February and June (see Frisco ISD GPA and class rank). In Prosper ISD, GPA and rank are recalculated after each semester; ask your counselor whether you can see your exact rank outside the top 10% (see Prosper ISD GPA and class rank). Also ask your counselor which rank your school sends to colleges in practice.

UT Austin: top 5%

UT Austin may limit automatic admission to 75% of its seats for first-time Texas freshmen, so it uses a smaller percentage. Each fall, UT tells Texas schools the rank that that year's juniors need by the end of junior year.

High school classEnters UT inAutomatic admission
2026Summer/fall 2026, spring 2027Top 5%
2027 (seniors in 2026-27)Summer/fall 2027, spring 2028Top 5%
2028 (juniors in 2026-27)Summer/fall 2028, spring 2029Top 5% (TEA letter, October 1, 2026)
2029, 2030, 2031Fall 2029, 2030, 2031Not announced yet. UT tells each class in the fall of its junior year.

From 2019 to 2025, UT's number was the top 6%. Frisco ISD's 2026-27 guide still says 6%.

  • It's admission to UT, not to a major. UT's College of Natural Sciences says automatic admission "does not guarantee placement in a particular college or major." UT says that if you qualify for automatic admission and aren't admitted to your first-choice major, you may be considered for your second choice.
  • Valedictorians of their graduating class are also admitted automatically to every Texas public university, UT Austin included, if they meet the other rules.
  • Deadlines for fall 2027 entry: Early Action application by October 15 (materials by October 22); regular deadline December 1 (materials by December 10).

Texas A&M

  • Texas A&M (College Station) automatically admits Texas residents in the top 10% of their graduating class, on or before the application deadline.
  • You must report your top 10% rank on STARS (Texas A&M's Self-reported Transcript and Academic Record System) and send an official transcript that includes a numeric rank. If no top 10% rank is on your STARS record, automatic admission is delayed.
  • Deadlines (College Station): applications open August 1; application deadline December 1; documents and STARS by December 15; accept your offer by May 1.
  • Majors: every College of Engineering applicant, including top 10%, is reviewed for placement into General Engineering (including Computer Science).
  • Test scores: Texas A&M is test optional now. It plans to require SAT or ACT scores again starting with spring or fall 2028 applicants, but that isn't final: it needs Board of Regents approval, and final rules are to be announced by the end of June 2027. Spring/fall 2027 applicants aren't affected.

Other universities' own guarantees

On top of the state rule, some universities publish their own "assured" or "guaranteed" admission. Here's what each university's admissions page said on November 10, 2026. These can change each year.

UniversityGuarantee on its own page
Texas TechTop 10%: automatic (the Distinguished diploma is required). Other ranks: assured admission with a test score (table below). All business and engineering majors, and some others (such as Biology, Physics and Interior Design), need assured admission.
University of HoustonAny one of: top 10%; a 3.5+ unweighted GPA that UH calculates from English, math, science and social studies (4.0 scale); or 1250+ SAT / 26+ ACT.
University of North TexasTop 30%, or another route: unweighted GPA 3.25+; dual credit GPA 3.0+ in at least 12 hours; core-course unweighted GPA 3.0+; or ACT 22 / SAT 1100. UNT says requirements vary by start term.
Texas StateDistinguished Level graduates: top 25% with no test minimum, other quartiles with a test score (table below).
UT DallasOnly the state rule: top 10% with the Distinguished Level of Achievement. No other rank or test-score guarantee on that page.

Texas Tech assured admission

Class rankACT compositeSAT (reading and writing + math)
Top 10%No minimumNo minimum
First quarter (not top 10%)241180
Second quarter261240
Third quarter271280
Fourth quarterApplication review

Texas State assured admission

Class rankACTSAT (reading and writing + math, one sitting)
Top 25%No minimumNo minimum
2nd quarter221090
3rd quarter261250
4th quarter291330

Texas State's page also says test scores "are not required for applicants ranked in the top 75%" of their class. Ask Texas State how that fits with the table for your year.

Without the Distinguished Level: the test-score route

This only matters if you don't earn the Distinguished Level of Achievement.

  • Entering before fall 2028 (through spring 2028): the law names ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks or an SAT score of at least 1,500 out of 2,400 "or the equivalent". Texas Tech and Texas A&M read that as an SAT of at least 480 in reading and writing and 530 in math, or ACT scores of at least 18 English, 22 reading, 22 math and 23 science.
  • From fall 2028 (SB 1241, 2025): the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board sets the exams and scores. Its study found the CLT, SAT and ACT rigorous enough, and its proposed rules are to be considered no later than January 2027. The scores aren't set yet. This is the rule for the Class of 2028 and later; ask your counselor once it's adopted.

See it for your own courses

Class rank comes from your weighted GPA. My GPA Planner shows your projected weighted GPA with your district's rules, and you can enter your goal and your guess for the top 10% line to see how close you are. Your plan stays on your device unless you choose to share it or save it to Google Drive.

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Official sources