All Georgia high school students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class would have a guaranteed seat in one of the state's public colleges or universities under a plan announced Tuesday by House and Senate Democrats.

Democratic leaders said the "Georgia's Promise" legislation would encourage bright students from rural and inner-city communities to attend college in the state and look for jobs here after they receive their degrees.

Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta), who plans to introduce the bill in the Senate today, said that class rank is one of the best predictors of success. "Whether a student graduates from the wealthiest high school district in the state or the poorest, our promise is clear," Reed said.

"Outperform 90 percent of the students in your class, graduate and you can attend the [public] college or university of your choice in Georgia. This bill rewards hard work and merit above all else."

House Democrats plan to introduce a companion measure, but it is unclear how far the bills would go in the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) said Tuesday that he had not seen the legislation, but believes the concept could have some merit.

"It appears to me that the assumption is that our top 10 percent students are not being admitted to our state universities if they desire to," Keen said

University of Georgia President Michael Adams, who was at the state Capitol on Tuesday, said it was a myth that rural students have a harder time getting into UGA.

UGA Provost Arnett Mace said Tuesday that while the number of applications from rural areas in Georgia is lower than applications from metro Atlanta, UGA actually accepts a higher percentage of those students for admission.

Mace said the university needs to wait to see how the plan is modified and whether it is passed by the General Assembly before it can evaluate its potential impact.

Democratic leaders say they based their legislation on similar laws in Texas and Florida that were approved with bipartisan support.

In 1997 then-Gov. George W. Bush signed into law a bill that allows the top 10 percent of Texas students to attend one of the state's public universities. In Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush approved a similar measure that went into effect in 2000.

Percent plans — which have been touted as alternatives to traditional college affirmative action programs — have earned mixed reviews nationally.

Researchers at the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University concluded in 2003 that Florida's program, which offers admission to the students in the top 20 percent of their class, was "not race-neutral" and "not an effective alternative to race-conscious affirmative action."

The report said Florida's plan gave "only an insignificant number" of the newly eligible minority students access to college and said it included far more whites and Asians than blacks or Hispanic students, the two most under-represented groups at the state's most selective universities.

Overall, the Harvard researchers, who studied Florida, Texas and California's plans, said it was "incorrect to attribute any significant increase in campus diversity to a percent plan alone."

The Georgia Democrats who announced the bill did not address the issue of racial diversity.

Instead, several House and Senate members said they knew of bright students from rural districts who were rejected from the state's public universities and instead enrolled at colleges in Texas, Florida and other states.

Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown (D-Macon) said the measure would help foster economic growth and development in Georgia by keeping talent here.

"We want to make sure that we do what we can to contribute to encouraging our young people in Georgia to achieve excellence," Brown said.

—Staff writers Nancy Badertscher and Andrea Jones contributed to this article.