The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) will revert to requiring standardized test scores like SAT and ACT for admissions after finding that the scores were a predictor of students’ academic performance.
UT Austin’s test score requirement will be applicable from the Fall 2025 semester. The university had done away with this requirement in Spring 2020 due to limited testing availability amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
After analyzing student data, UT Austin found that applicants who submitted standardized scores performed “significantly better” in their first semester of college than those who did not take the tests. “Our goals are to attract the best and brightest students and to make sure every student is successful once they are here,” said university president Jay Hartzell, according to a March 11 press release.
“Standardized scores combined with high school GPA support this goal by improving early identification of students who demonstrated the greatest academic achievement, the most potential, and those who can most benefit from support through our student success programs.”
Applicants who asked that their standardized scores be taken into account during the admission process had a median SAT score of 1420. In contrast, those who chose not to have their scores taken into account had a lower median SAT score of 1160.
Out of the more than 9,200 first-year students who enrolled at UT Austin in 2023, those who asked for standardized scores to be considered had a higher estimated average GPA of 0.86-grade points during their first fall semester. These students were also seen as less likely to have a first-semester college GPA of less than 2.0.
“Our experience during the test-optional period reinforced that standardized testing is a valuable tool for deciding who is admitted and making sure those students are placed in majors that are the best fit,” Mr. Hartzell said.
“Also, with an abundance of high school GPAs surrounding 4.0, especially among our auto-admits, an SAT or ACT score is a proven differentiator that is in each student’s and the university’s best interest.”
UT Austin pointed out that the four-year graduation rate at the university climbed to a record 74.5 percent in Fall 2023 from 52 percent a decade ago in 2013. This was in part due to the university’s ability to predict student success based on their standardized test scores, which allowed for directing assistance and resources to students with the greatest academic needs.
In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Hartzell admitted that an analysis of students who did not submit their test scores “found that, in many ways, they weren’t faring as well.”
Test scores are especially important when it comes to determining which students have the best chance of performing well in the toughest of academic programs like engineering, he stated.
Bringing Back Test Scores
In addition to UT Austin, other universities such as Dartmouth, Yale, Brown, Purdue, and MIT that had done away with standardized test scores over the past years are now bringing back the requirement.Earlier this month, Brown University announced it is reinstating test requirements. “Our analysis made clear that SAT and ACT scores are among the key indicators that help predict a student’s ability to succeed and thrive in Brown’s demanding academic environment,” said Provost Francis J. Doyle III.
On Feb. 22, Yale announced the reinstatement of tests while also stating that the list of tests accepted by the university will be widened. In addition to SAT and ACT, Yale will start to consider AP and IB exams as well.
Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid at Yale, said test scores were the “single greatest predictor of a student’s performance in Yale courses in every model we have constructed.”
“It doesn’t align with everything I know about the design of the test, the purpose of the test, and the information that it gives,” he said.
“To be using the SATs to determine what major you can qualify for is as valid as using performance in Mario Kart.”
A Feb. 21 press release from the group stated that over 80 percent of four-year colleges and universities will not require SAT or ACT scores for Fall 2025 admissions.
Last year, the group’s executive director Harry Feder said that many schools “recognize that standardized test scores do not measure academic ‘merit.’” Instead, “what they do assess quite accurately is family wealth, but that should not be the criteria for getting into college.”
Mr. Quinlan doesn’t believe standardized tests act as a barrier to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“The entire admissions office staff is keenly aware of the research on the correlations between standardized test scores and household income as well as the persistent gaps by race,” he said.
“Our experience, however, is that including test scores as one component of a thoughtful whole-person review process can help increase the diversity of the student body rather than decrease it.”
