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McCombs School Reviews Options for Increasing Diversity
The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, of which the McCombs School has been a member since the mid-1980s, is a group of schools and corporations dedicated to increasing the applications, matriculations and graduations of minority MBAs (and, in the case of the McCombs School, MPAs).
More than three decades ago, the Consortium set the precedent of offering full tuition and fee scholarships to minority students. Until recently, the top-ten MBA programs offered no such support, giving the Consortium schools an edge in diversity.
Lately, however, the top ten have emulated the Consortium schools, greatly expanding the opportunities for minority students, but increasing the competitive pressure on the Consortium schools.
Further disadvantaging the McCombs School in its quest for diversity, the Hopwood opinion (5th Circuit, 1996) prevents us from using affirmative action in admissions or financial aid. Thus, we may only consider minority candidates without regard to ethnicity. The students who qualify for admission to our programs without affirmative action generally also qualify for admission to top-ten schools under those schools’ admissions standards (in most cases, including an affirmative action policy).
We know that a strong minority presence on campus benefits all students, thus we highly encourage diversity at every level of study. At the undergraduate level, the McCombs School participates in several programs to interest top minority students in higher education in general and the business school in particular, including the Business Leadership Program, an inclusive affiliate of the national LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) Program in Business, and the Amigo program for technology education.
But because of the convergence of the Hopwood decision and increased competition from top ten MBA schools, we have seen our minority masters student numbers cut in half—despite doubling and redoubling our recruiting efforts.
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
