1,500+ U.S. Four-Year Colleges and Universities Will Not Require ACT/SAT Scores for Fall 2022 Entry

for further information, contact:                      

Bob Schaeffer(239) 395-6773                                         

            mobile  (239) 699-0468

for immediate release Thursday, June 17, 2021

MORE THAN 1,500 ACCREDITED U.S. FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

WON’T REQUIRE ACT/SAT RESULTS FROM FALL 2022 APPLICANTS;

TEST-OPTIONAL/TEST-BLIND/SCORE-FREE POLICIES NOW IN EFFECT

AT MORE THAN 65% OF BACHELOR-DEGREE INSTITUTION

The number of U.S. four-year colleges and universities that will not require students applying for fall 2022 admission to submit ACT/SAT scores now exceeds 1,500 schools. That’s 65% of all bachelor-degree institutions in the United States.

An updated list of ACT/SAT-optional and test-blind schools https://fairtest.org/university/optional was released today by the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest). The organization has led the movement to eliminate admissions exam requirements for more than three decades.

“Every week, more admissions offices announce that they will remain test-optional at least through the fall 2022 admissions cycle. Many are lifting ACT/SAT submission requirements for multiple years to come.” explained FairTest Executive Director Bob Schaeffer. “

“Test-optional and test-blind/score-free policies have become the ‘new normal’ in undergraduate admission,” Schaeffer continued. “Higher education leaders recognize that removing ACT/SAT requirements promotes both academic excellence and equity.” Many studies have found that students admitted without exam scores do as well as peers who submitted test results.

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-  FairTest’s frequently updated directory of test-optional, 4-year schools is available free online at https://www.fairtest.org/university/optional -- sort geographically by clicking on “State”.

-   A chronology of schools dropping ACT/SAT requirements over the past 16 years with details about the duration of those policies is at:http://www.fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Optional-Growth-Chronology.pdf

-  A sub-list of 70 campuses with test-blind, score-free or test-free policies (ACT/SAT results not considered if submitted):  http://www.fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Test-Blind-Admissions-List.pdf