Undergraduate Admissions Testing

Admissions tests have been controversial since their creation in the early 1900s. FairTest works to expose the limitations of testing, the biases that reliance on testing creates, and the disadvantages that overreliance on tests create for women, low-income students, and underrepresented minorities.

Undergraduate Admissions Testing

Undergraduate Admissions Tests

Colleges have relied on the SAT and ACT despite limited predictive validity connected to educational outcomes and their inherent economic, gender, racial and cultural biases. Fortunately, the landscape has shifted to more holistic admissions practices. Learn about specific issues concerning the SAT and ACT as proponents attempt to modify their format and maintain their relevance.

Facts About the SAT

Explore the history and find data about the SAT.

Facts About the ACT

Explore the history and find data about the SAT.

Test Optional Admissions

Test optional admissions gives the student agency in deciding what best represents their skills and abilities. As more universities acknowledge that the role of standardized tests should be more akin to optional elements like extra-curricular activities and AP tests, more of those universities are establishing permanent policies that limit or ignore tests in holistic admissions practices. Learn more about the history, research, and trends in test optional admission.

What is Test Optional

Learn more about test optional admissions history, policies, and practices.

Test Optional List

This regularly updated list of test optional and test free colleges and universities.