Harvard University will extend a move not to require SAT or ACT scores for prospective students until at least 2026, the university announced Thursday.
The Ivy League school initially stopped requiring the tests because of the COVID-19 pandemic, asserting some applicants had limited access to testing sites.
The extension was also attributed to the pandemic “and its continued impact on access to testing for high school age students.”
“Students who do not submit standardized test scores will not be disadvantaged in their application process,” William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid, said in a statement.
“Their applications will be considered on the basis of what they have presented, and they are encouraged to send whatever materials they believe would convey their accomplishments in secondary school and their promise for the future,” he added.
The standardized testing is often a key component of what colleges analyze when considering whether to accept a student.
If an applicant fails to meet a certain threshold on the tests, they have historically been rejected without regard to other parts of their resume.
But schools have increasingly ditched those requirements, including all public universities in California, with some adjusting before the pandemic started.
Columbia and Cornell universities are among those that have made the testing optional for applicants through 2024.
More than 1,815 other colleges don’t require ACT or SAT scores, according to FairTest, a group that says it aims to “end the misuses and flaws of testing practices” that impede advancing quality education and equal opportunity.
“A major reason for the explosive expansion of ACT/SAT-optional and test-blind policies is their effectiveness,” FairTest Executive Director Bob Schaeffer said in a recent statement.
“Schools that did not require standardized exam score submission for fall 2021 admission—current first-year undergraduates—generally received more applicants, better academically qualified applicants, and more diverse pools of applicants,“ he added. ”With such positive results, there’s no rational reason to restore test-score requirements.”
Supporters of retaining testing requirements say they’re a good way to predict how prospective students would perform if they’re granted admission.
The scores “aid in predicting important aspects of student success,” a task force said in reviewing California’s proposal to axe the requirements.
Harvard on Thursday also announced it had accepted 740 students from a pool of 9,406 applicants. That came a year after the school selected 743 students from the 10,087 who applied.
