Since the shutdown of educational institutions due to the coronavirus pandemic, dozens of colleges have announced test-optional policies for fall 2021 admissions, reported The Washington Post.
The Post said “a record number of” higher education institutions have nixed the requirement that students take the ACT or the SAT — standardized tests for college admission — and many are contemplating eliminating the requirement altogether for future admissions as well.
The immediate impetus for many universities canceling the requirement was the fact that SAT and ACT canceled several administrations of the exams.
Earlier this month, the University of California (UC) said it will suspend requirements for the SAT/ACT standardized tests for students applying for admission as freshmen for fall 2021. Williams, Amherst, Haverford, Davidson, Pomona, Rhodes, Scripps and Vassar colleges have also recently gone test-optional for high school juniors.
The National Center for Fair and Open Testing, or FairTest, a nonprofit organization that advocates the end of standardized tests, said the number of accredited, bachelor’s-degree-granting schools that have recently cancelled ACT/SAT requirements indefinitely has gone up to more than 50.
Overall, more than 1,100 four-year colleges and universities do not use the SAT or ACT to admit large numbers of bachelor’s-degree applicants, according to a list maintained by FairTest.
Many education experts have, for years, advocated against the tests saying they are an inadequate measure of a student’s abilities.
