A new survey examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected college application activity, finding that test-optional policies were especially influential for students of color.
Topics: Standardized testing
California State University eliminates SAT, ACT from admissions
The nation’s largest four-year public college system said it will no longer consider applicants’ SAT and ACT scores in the admissions process. MIT, meanwhile, took a different tack.
SAT to become fully digital, shorter by 2024
The College Board has announced that the SAT will be fully digital for international students in spring 2023 and U.S. students in 2024, and will take just two hours to complete.
SAT/ACT: U.S. News makes minor changes, study shows who submitted test scores last year
U.S. News & World Report’s new Best Colleges guide includes only slight adjustments to the way it weighs SAT and ACT performance, just as a new Common App study sheds light on who actually submitted scores last year.
Will U.S. News answer calls to exclude SAT/ACT scores from rankings?
Higher education organizations and experts are urging U.S. News & World Report to drop test scores from its “Best Colleges” calculations.
It’s not just the SAT. Social class encoded in college essays, too.
The content of students’ college application essays has an even stronger correlation to household income than SAT scores, according to a new working paper.
UC system: SAT/ACT scores will not factor into admissions, scholarship decisions
Bringing closure to an ongoing lawsuit, the University of California system has agreed to no longer consider SAT or ACT scores when making admissions and scholarship decisions.
Elite colleges admitted more underrepresented students this year, early reports suggest
As students weigh college admissions offers ahead of the May 1 decision deadline, early data indicate that the nation’s top schools could welcome an especially diverse class this year.
Could this unprecedented admissions cycle bring lasting change?
Admissions teams at the nation’s most selective institutions are facing uncharted territory this year as they attempt to review a record number of applications—many without test scores—to shape the Class of 2025.
Test-optional policies here to stay, ACT report suggests
Enrollment officials responding to an ACT survey indicated that they’re unlikely to return to test-required policies in the near term, although institutions whose test-optional policies were COVID-driven said the next few application cycles will be telling.
Digital recruitment, test-optional policies: Stopgaps for COVID-19 or lasting change?
Many colleges and universities pivoted to digital recruitment tactics and test-optional admissions policies out of necessity this past year. But some admissions experts expect the changes to persist well beyond the pandemic.
College Board says goodbye to SAT essay, subject tests
As more colleges and universities adopt test-optional admission policies, and the pandemic continues to limit testing sessions, the College Board has announced it is eliminating the essay and subject tests from its SAT exam.