'Test-Optional' Gains Steam

Inside Higher Ed: "At least 17 colleges have dropped the SAT or ACT in recent weeks for one or two admissions cycles, specifically citing the impact of COVID-19. Boston University announced that it will go test optional for those applying in the fall of 2021 or the spring of 2022, but only those two semesters. BU cited the difficulty students have in taking the SAT or ACT ... Tufts University announced a three-year experiment with going test optional."

"In Oregon, the University of Oregon and Oregon State University announced that they would no longer require the SAT or the ACT, permanently. With their actions, every public university in Oregon is now test optional ... Scripps College announced a similar change and said that the policy 'will allow admission officers to identify and advocate for students with a strong academic profile who may have previously been viewed as less competitive, based on their performance on a single exam'."

"Bob Schaeffer, interim executive director of FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing, said that the key to colleges switching now was that with 'nearly 1,100 schools already test optional,' just about any kind of college can find a similar college is test optional and have success with the policy."