In 1997, the state Legislature passed a law that guarantees any student who graduates in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school admission to any public university in the state.

The goal was to ensure access, especially to the University of Texas, for members of minority groups. UT officials say the influx of top 10 percent students has created an admissions "crisis," and they want the law scaled back. The law hasn't prompted complaints at other universities in the state.

The state Senate could debate changing the law as early as today. Here are answers to common questions about the issue.

What's the situation?

Eighty-one percent of current UT freshmen who are from Texas got in under the top 10 percent law. That works out to 76 percent of the freshman class of about 7,000 students because out-of-state and international students are not eligible for automatic admission. UT says this leaves too little discretion to admit students not in the top 10 percent who have skills in art, music, math or leadership, as well as those who have overcome personal obstacles.

Can't UT just increase the size of its student body?

School officials say the quality of the educational experience would suffer. UT is already one of the largest universities in the country, and a task force recommended five years ago that enrollment be reduced to 48,000 to allow for smaller classes. Enrollment has since hovered around 50,000.

How is UT dealing with the rising number of top 10 percent students?

UT canceled its entering summer class this year, citing the size of the freshman applicant pool and the rising number of top 10 percent applicants, among other things.

President William Powers Jr. said three weeks ago that UT could be forced to stop accepting foreign and out-of-state students, scale back geosciences and other programs that need non-top 10 percent students to fill all their slots, and eliminate athletic programs, including football, if the law is not modified. UT spokesman Don Hale said Monday that Powers believes there is "zero chance" of those things coming to pass because UT would increase the size of the student body if necessary.

Has minority enrollment or geographical diversity at UT increased since the law was passed?

UT records show that the number of black students has gone from 1,353, or 3.7 percent of undergraduates, in fall 1997 to 1,803, or 4.8 percent, in fall 2008. The number of Hispanic students has risen from 5,234, or 14.2 percent of undergraduates, to 6,766, or 18.1 percent. UT has about 37,000 undergraduates; the law does not apply to graduate school admissions.

The percentages of freshmen who are from areas categorized as rural, independent town, major urban and so forth are essentially unchanged.

How would limits on the top 10 percent law work?

Proposals under consideration would allow UT and other public universities to limit top 10 percent students to about half of their freshmen from Texas. A university would accept the top 1 percent, 2 percent and so forth until the threshold is reached. UT officials say they would let high school students know in advance, perhaps by the start of their junior year, how high they would have to rank to be assured automatic admission.

Why does UT say that limiting top 10 percent admissions would allow it to increase minority enrollment?

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2003, in a case involving the University of Michigan, that race and ethnicity could be considered in admissions, and UT subsequently began doing so. Opening more slots to a broader admissions review that includes race and ethnicity will allow the university to enroll more minority students, officials say.