Emphasis on college entrance tests declining
For many years, Bob Schaeffer and a group critical of standardized testing’s role in deciding who gets into college have pointed to a trend using numbers that were interesting, though not dramatic — at least initially.
Fifty-seven colleges and universities used test-optional or other programs lessening reliance on the SAT and ACT for some or all of their students, the group, FairTest, reported back in 1987. By 1998, that tally was at 280. By 2001, it had reached 391 — but that’s still a tiny share of the nation’s four-year campuses.
Now, FairTest is out with its latest survey, which shows, for the upcoming admissions cycle, at least 1,600-plus colleges and universities — ranging from regional public and private schools to the Ivy League — will have test-optional or similar policies in place. That’s more than two-thirds of bachelor’s degree-granting institutions, FairTest says.
Bolstering the latest numbers are experiments at many institutions, including the University of Pittsburgh, that were started as the pandemic made it harder to predict who was coming to campus and who could even take the exams in time to be admitted, given COVID19 restrictions. In 2019, before the pandemic, FairTest reported 1,070 total colleges and universities with such policies.
The National Center for Fair and Open Testing, founded in 1985, has long questioned standardized
testing’s worth in predicting college success and argued it disadvantages women, minorities and those who simply just don’t test well. The latest tally does not settle the debate, and it’s not clear how many schools will stick with the optional policies in the long term.
Either way, it suggests a view on high-stakes testing once considered insurgent has gone mainstream as both a scramble for fewer high school graduates and the pandemic have reshuffled the way schools view prospective students.
“The coming year’s high school seniors should take advantage of the full range of admissions options,” said Mr. Schaeffer, executive director of FairTest. “Nearly all the most competitive liberal arts colleges in the country will not require ACT/ SAT scores from applicants for fall 2022 seats. Similar policies will also be in place at a majority of public university campuses.”
Mr. Schaeffer asserts schools are finding the policy improves student diversity without impacting quality of recruits — and schools still requiring the exams could be at a competitive disadvantage. It’s among the reasons “that ACT/SAT-optional policies have become the ‘New Normal’ in undergraduate admissions,” Mr. Schaeffer told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by email Thursday.
Meanwhile, the cost-benefit calculation of these policies continues as schools seek to provide greater access to underrepresented students, though sometimes at financial and other costs.
A survey by enrollment consultant Maguire Associates found “pluralities of respondents believe that testoptional is improving access broadly for low income, underrepresented, and first generation students,” reported Inside Higher Ed recently.
But it also showed while “institutions looking to grow first-year enrollment have largely been successful, ... many are struggling to contain their discount rate.” That refers to the share of tuition and fees that flows back to students through grants, a growing source of financial unease for colleges.
The College Board owns the SAT. Priscilla Rodriguez, its vice president for college readiness assessments, said in a board statement Friday, “During the pandemic, colleges have introduced more flexibility and choice into the admissions process. Some students may decide their application is stronger without test scores, while others will benefit from sending them, including the many thousands of underrepresented students whose SAT scores strengthen their college applications.
“Evidence shows that when colleges consider SAT scores in the context of where students live and go to school, as with our free admissions tool Landscape, the SAT helps increase diversity,” she added.
100-plus schools in Pa.
In Pennsylvania alone, well over 100 schools now have test-optional or similar policies. They range from the University of Pennsylvania, Penn State University and Pitt to state-owned universities and regional private schools, such as Gettysburg College and Chatham and La Roche universities.
Amy Becher, Chatham’s vice president for enrollment management, said a limited number of applicants had long applied through the school’s test-optional policy, but Chatham went more heavily into that stance during the pandemic. She notes the school has one of the largest incoming undergraduate classes in its history — and one of its strongest.
“And for the 43% of new incoming first-year students who did submit SAT or ACT test scores, we have also seen a slight increase in academic quality,” she said Friday. “I do not believe that being fully test-optional is the reason for our growth, but it is important to note that it did not hurt enrollment nor our academic quality.’’
The trendline is not lost on those like Karen Whitney, interim chancellor at University of Illinois, Springfield. She is a former Clarion University president and served as interim chancellor of the 94,000-student Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
“I think eventually the tests that have been used for the last 50 plus years for admission into colleges and university will either disappear completely or evolve into other metrics universities can use to determine which students can be most successful at their particular institution,” she told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by email.
“I think all we are doing is switching from one indicator of excellence to other indicator(s) of excellence. I think the increasing number of institutions shows that there is merit in making these changes for various reasons,” Ms. Whitney explained. “For me, the interesting question is how do elite admission colleges and universities maintain their eliteness given that there’s been such bragging rights around these tests for a very long time.”
Some in the debate point out while those from affluent backgrounds may test better, other measures — including recommendations and essays — also can favor students from families with means to give them a leg up, including college admissions coaches and educational consultants.
“For me, the interesting question is how do elite admission colleges and universities maintain their eliteness given that there’s been such bragging rights around these tests for a very long time.”
Karen Whitney interim chancellor, University of Illinois, Springfield; former president, Clarion University
Pitt extends program
For elite institutions with no shortage of applications and a national brand, the calculation is different.
In February, Pitt said it would extend its SAT and ACT test-optional program — piloted initially on its branches for last fall — through fall 2023 and is expanding it to all programs and locations, including the main Oakland campus.
Pitt Provost Ann Cudd cited effects of the pandemic and a desire to recruit students “whose diverse talents and potential for leadership may not be well measured by standardized tests.”
In remarks accompanying an announcement of the extension, she said, “No stars should be left in the dark.”
Optional policies have been embraced across the State System of Higher Education campuses, among them California, Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana and Slippery Rock universities in Western Pennsylvania.
“The State System is open to ideas which challenge the status quo, especially if those can expand for historically underserved and disadvantaged students’ access to higher education programs,” Chancellor Daniel Greenstein said via email. “Our universities decide whom to admit to their institutions, and many have already made changes to the role standardized testing plays in those processes.
“We encourage our university leadership teams to continue considering how to expand access to all students, especially those who have been historically underserved and disadvantaged,” he added.