Admission Testing in Higher Education: Changing Landscape and Outcomes from Test-Optional Policies

Abstract

Access to admission tests was greatly restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in widespread adoption of test-optional policies by colleges and universities. Many institutions adopted such policies on an interim or trial basis, as many others signaled the change would be long term. Several Ivy League institutions and selective public flagship universities have returned to requiring test scores from all applicants citing their own research indicating diversity and ensuring academic success of applicants can be best served by inclusion of test scores in the admissions process. This paper reviews recent research on the impact of test-optional policies on score-sending behaviors of applicants and differential outcomes in college and score sending. Ultimately, test-optional policies are neither the panacea for diversity that proponents suggested nor do they result in a decay of academic outcomes that opponents forecast, but they do have consequences, which colleges will need to weigh going forward.