for further information, contact:
Bob Schaeffer(239) 395-6773
mobile (239) 699-0468
for immediate release Thursday, July 29, 2021
MORE THAN 1,600 ACCREDITED U.S. FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
ARE ACT/SAT-OPTIONAL OR TEST-BLIND FOR FALL 2022 APPLICANTS;
TWO-THIRDS OF BACHELOR-DEGREE INSTITUTIONS WILL NOT REQUIRE
ADMISSIONS TEST SCORES FROM RISING HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS
With a new college admission season set to open when the 2021-2022 Common Application launches on August 1, a just-completed tally finds that more than 1,600 four-year schools will not require students to submit ACT/SAT scores to be considered for fall 2022 enrollment. That is more than two-thirds of the 2,330 bachelor-degree institutions in the United States.
The list of ACT/SAT-optional and test-blind schools https://fairtest.org.org/university/optional was released today by the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest). The organization has been the leader of the U.S. test-optional admissions movement since the late 1980s
“The coming year’s high school seniors should take advantage of the full range of admissions options,” explained FairTest Executive Director Bob Schaeffer. “Nearly all the most competitive liberal arts colleges in the country will not require ACT/SAT scores from applicants for fall 2022 seats. Similar policies will also be in place at a majority of public university campuses.”
“Study after study – the most recent from the University of California – has shown that eliminating admissions test requirements enhances undergraduate diversity without reducing academic quality,” Schaeffer concluded. “FairTest expects the number of test-optional institutions to continue growing because the policy is a ‘win-win’ for both students and schools.”
The major exceptions to the strong test-optional trend, according to FairTest, are public college systems in the deep south, such as Georgia and Florida, U.S. service academies, and some small religious colleges.
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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 75 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