A downlink scheduler schedules downlink transmissions to a plurality of user terminals over a shared downlink channel and allocates resources for the downlink transmissions. For making scheduling decisions, the downlink scheduler computes a resource metric to compare the available resources that are being allocated. The resource metric is based on the individual scheduling metrics of the user terminals. Allocation of the resources is performed in an iterative fashion. A first resource is selected based on the resource metric and allocated to a user terminal based on the corresponding individual scheduling metrics of the user terminals. The next resource is then selected and allocated. This allocation process continues until all RBGs are allocated, or until all user terminals are served. In one embodiment, the resource metrics for the remaining resources and individual scheduling metrics for the remaining user terminals are computed/recomputed during each iteration.