More than 60% of 4-year colleges and universities in USA will not require applicants to submit ACT or SAT scores for fall 2021 admission. 1,460 schools are now test-optional out of 2,330 bachelor-degree institutions that the US federal government recognizes. US News classifies more than 740 test-optional schools in the first tier of their respective categories. That figure includes more than 90% of the country’s most selective liberal arts colleges and national universities. The University of California (UC) is suspending ACT and SAT tests as an admissions requirement until 2024. There are daily live updates on this list.
Bob Schaeffer, FairTest’s interim Executive Director, explained, “Schools eliminating ACT and SAT mandates recognize that multiple test dates have been cancelled this spring and summer. Many sites, where exams were scheduled for this fall, will not open. That makes it impossible for many applicants to submit scores. Admissions officers also know that test-optional policies worked well at the one thousand schools, which implemented them before the pandemic. It is attractive for many applicants to know that they will be evaluated as ‘more than a score’.