USU looking to make ACT and SAT optional for incoming students
Utah State University announced ACT and SAT scores will not be required for admission in the spring, summer and fall terms of 2021, and is looking at making the adjustment permanent.
The American College Testing (ACT) and the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) are generally required for incoming freshman into most public and private universities.
Katie Jo North, USU’s executive director of New Student Enrollment, said the proposed “test optional” admission will mostly or entirely look at a student’s grade point average.
“We have a committee getting together made up of faculty, data analysts and administration to look at this for the long term, to make it a permanent change,” she said. “We just want to make sure we’re looking at all factors as we make that change.”
North added that GPA is usually the best indicator of success.
“One of the things we’ve noticed is that a GPA is a better predictor of a student’s success than the test scores,” she said. “The good thing about test scores is that it gives us another factor to look at rather than solely looking at GPA.”
North also said the university doesn’t want to hold students accountable for not being able to take tests due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
USU will admit anybody with a 2.9 GPA in good standing. Applicants with a lower GPA will need to have other factors or test scores.
“In the past, we would look at a combination of students’ GPA’s and ACT/SAT scores and give them an index score,” she said. “This is a new way of looking at it.”
Additionally, there will be a new scholarship index for 2021.
“This new index weighs the GPA heavier than the tests,” North said. “It will be used for academic merit scholarships, so students will still need to take the ACT or SAT to be considered for those scholarships. We will also use that index for those who have a lower GPA as the test scores could help them.”
Test scores will also be required for admission into certain majors.
North said USU has worked with peer institutions in the country who are currently utilizing the test optional admission. She said some institutions are going “test blind” and won’t be looking at test scores at all.
USU will allow high school students to take the ACT on USU’s main campus to have scores ready to apply for spring 2021. The test dates and information are available at http://www.actstudent.org/.
“They are limiting the number of students and the dates for COVID-19 restrictions,” North said, “but it is still an option. ACT and SAT have also both added dates this fall that will meet parameters for our scholarship deadline on Jan. 10.”
@harriskarcin
How do you define and measure the success of a student? If a college GPA is the measure of success then of course high school GPA will correlate.
Without standardized testing, high school students have an incentive to take easy classes to maintain a GPA instead of trying to learn.
We need a better way to measure educational results and entrance criteria.