Test-optional policies took off during the Covid 19 pandemic, though some institutions, mostly small liberal arts colleges, had adopted these policies in the early 2000s. Now, according to FairTest.org, there are more than 2,100 colleges and universities that either don’t require test scores or won’t even consider them for purposes of admission.
Recently, some of the most selective colleges in the nation have been reverting to test-required policies. According to Jed Applerouth of Applerouth Education, “Seven of the top 10 colleges and universities in the country (per the US News and World Report rankings) have returned to test-required admissions, and more are coming. Half of the top 20 colleges now require testing, as do a third of the top 40. Eight of the 12 ‘Ivy Plus’ colleges (the Ivies plus Stanford, Duke, MIT, and U. Chicago) have officially reinstated testing requirements, leaving Princeton, Duke, Columbia and Chicago as the only test-optional holdouts in this elite and highly-selective group.”
It’s worth noting, the return to test-required policies is happening at large public colleges as well, including the flagship universities in Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Tennessee. It would not be surprising if others follow suit.
What’s causing the change? Many of the schools that have reinstated testing requirements cite research from the Opportunity Insights group, which indicates SAT and ACT scores are the single best predictor of college success. Others say grade inflation has made high school grades less effective at predicting college performance. And, according to the University of Pennsylvania, the most recent school to return to a test-required policy, this was done to benefit students and reduce stress: “The flexibility of a test-optional policy has escalated decision-making stress in an application process that is already stressful.”
Colleges also may act in response to a “Dear Colleague” letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to all public and private colleges in the U.S. on February 14. According to the document, “Relying on non-racial information as a proxy for race, and making decisions based on that information, violates the law. That is true whether the proxies are used to grant preferences on an individual basis or a systematic one. It would, for instance, be unlawful for an educational institution to eliminate standardized testing to achieve a desired racial balance or to increase racial diversity.”
One of the letter’s final paragraphs states, “Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding.” Therefore, it seems likely that many institutions may feel the safest practice is to reinstate mandatory test score policies.
What does this mean for today’s high school students? It’s possible more colleges and universities will decide to return to a test-required policy for the class of 2026 and beyond. Current juniors should plan to take the ACT and/or SAT this spring and should keep an eye out for such changes. Over the long term, students may see the number of test-optional colleges they have to choose from begin to decline. This will make SAT and ACT scores more important going forward.
