Five years out from the crest of the COVID-19 pandemic, standardized test policy still remains in flux. Since we last did a deep dive into SAT/ACT requirements, we have seen some significant shifts in policy – much of it trending toward further testing requirements. Of the top 20 colleges and universities according to the 2026 U.S. News and World Report ranked list, 13 institutions now require the SAT or ACT. Of the top 50, 18 require a standardized test.
In this article we will review current admissions policies at key institutions, explore the meaning of test-optional, and look at some factors that could be disruptors to admissions policy in years to come.
A Look at Key Institutions
Columbia University now stands as the only test-optional Ivy League institution. The New York City-based university has vowed to remain so permanently. Conversely, Brown University, Harvard University, Dartmouth College, and University of Pennsylvania, all require either the SAT or ACT as part of undergraduate admissions. Cornell University and Princeton University are temporarily test optional, but will require testing in the 2026-27 and 2027-28 application cycles, respectively. Yale University considers itself “test-flexible”: it also requires SAT or ACT scores, but these requirements can be sidestepped with AP Exam Scores or IB Scores or Predicteds.
For Ivy-Plus institutions, SAT or ACT scores are required at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (one of the first to return to mandatory testing), Stanford University, California Institute of Technology, and Johns Hopkins (starting in 2026). Meanwhile, the University of Chicago, Duke University, and Northwestern University are test optional. UChicago engages in a “no harm” testing policy, which means that any SAT or ACT score submitted will only be used for review if it will positively affect an applicant’s chances. Starting in the 2024-2025 admissions cycle, Duke University had stopped “assigning points” to standardized test scores as part of its admissions process, what we call a “test-lite” policy, but students still have the option to submit scores.
There is a growing list of other sought-after schools that have returned to required testing, including but not limited to the following: Georgetown University, University of Texas – Austin, University of Georgia, and Georgia Institute of Technology. University of Miami plans to reinstate testing requirements for fall of 2026; Auburn University plans to do so for fall of 2027.
The State University System of Florida, which includes the University of Florida, Florida State University, and the controversial New College of Florida, is test-mandatory, as are all five United States Service Academies. In addition to the SAT and ACT, these schools accept the Classical Learning Test (CLT), a standardized test alternative with a notable emphasis on Christian thought.
Rice University has adopted a unique policy: though optional, students are “recommended” to submit SAT or ACT scores. Texas A&M “encourages” its students to include scores with their application.
A few dozen institutions remain test-blind. These schools will not consider test scores in admissions decisions or when awarding scholarships; SAT and ACT scores can, however, still be used by students as alternative ways of fulfilling requirements. All University of California institutions – including UCBerkeley and UCLA – and all California State campuses are test-blind. University of San Diego and Reed College have provisional test-blind policies through 2026.
While the admissions playing field is more varied than it was this time in 2021 or even 2024, most U.S. universities remain test-optional.
What Does Test Optional Really Mean?
In general, “test-optional” denotes that a school will weigh SAT or ACT scores as part of a student’s academic portfolio, but applicants choosing to refrain from submitting standardized test scores will not be at a disadvantage. In other words, applying without test scores will not negatively impact a student’s application review or scholarship consideration.
The vast majority of U.S. higher education institutions have had test-optional policies for undergraduate admissions since the COVID-19 Pandemic. That said, the current trends at some institutions speak to more nuanced admissions practices.
Brooke Hanson, CEO and founder of SuperTutorTV contends that only 35 percent of top-100 schools are “truly test-optional.” Looking at the percent of admitted students in Fall 2024 at each school who submitted SAT and ACT scores, Hanson categorized purportedly “test-optional” colleges and universities based on these percentage bands. While the data – as Hanson notes – is not 100 percent clean, it points to a distinct advantage to submitting standardized test scores at many purportedly test-optional schools.
Universities in which over 65 percent of enrolled students (and in some cases above 75 percent) submitted SAT/ACT scores are characterized as “Test-Preferred”. Schools on this list include Northwestern, Duke, UChicago, Columbia, University of Michigan, Emory University, Ohio State University, Howard University, Amherst College, and Wellesley College. Even at universities that don’t award admissions points to test scores (Duke), engage in “no harm” testing policies (UChicago), and aim to be test optional in perpetuity (Columbia), the majority of students enrolled in 2024 submitted test scores when applying.
Schools that were found to give a “Slight Test Advantage” – where 55-60 percent of enrolled students submitted test scores – include University of Notre Dame, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Virginia, Tufts University, and Swarthmore College. Institutions that were found to be “Test-Agnostic” – where 45-55 percent of enrolled students submitted test scores – include Vanderbilt University, Wake Forest University, Virginia Tech, and Williams College.
Those colleges and universities where less than 50 percent of enrolled students submitted test scores in 2024 were deemed “Truly Test-Optional”. Included on this list are New York University, Boston University, University of Rochester, University of Maryland – College Park, Northeastern University, and Tulane University.
The Enhanced ACT – Chaos Reigns
In nearly all respects, the rollout of the Enhanced ACT has been a mess. Following the first official U.S. administration of the Enhanced test in September, serious questions still hang over the new test’s functionality, implementation, and scoring. This uncertainty could prove a major disruption to testing policy.
For a standardized test, the experience of the Enhanced ACT isn’t yet standard. Students have the option of choosing either a paper-based or computer-based test; students deciding on the former seem to be at a significant advantage, with the online-testing platform still feeling very unfinished and rife with reported glitches. To further complicate matters for those opting for digital testing, the school-day platform is currently different from the one used by Saturday testers – to the point where one has DESMOS embedded and the other does not. International testers still do not have access to the Enhanced test; in September, the ACT administered the legacy version of the test to international testers who had previously signed up for the Enhanced ACT with little or no prior warning.
Moreover, a shorter ACT test and a higher-than-expected share of unscored questions has translated to a test with an extremely volatile scoring scale. A student can miss the same number of questions on two separate attempts of the Reading section, for example, and get scores that vary by up to 11 (!) scaled points based on how many missed questions were unscored experimental items. Because of this volatility, students who take the test multiple times are at a marked advantage over those who only test once. Due, likely at least in part, to this scoring uncertainty, Cornell temporarily stopped superscoring the Enhanced ACT, although it has since reversed that policy. Enhanced ACT volatility has also complicated Northwestern University’s admission policy: it will not calculate ACT superscores for students applying in the 2025-26 cycle; those students will need to self-report their highest section scores from individual test dates, as well as their official ACT superscore.
A handful of other colleges and universities that superscore the SAT – including Swarthmore College, Drew University, and Colorado College – do not superscore the ACT. Students applying using any ACT results – Enhanced or otherwise – should make sure to check each schools’ full admissions policy to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
The Enhanced ACT – “Optional” Science Section
To add further uncertainty to an already chaotic situation, the ACT Science section, which is now an “optional” component of Enhanced ACT, is not necessarily thought of as optional at all institutions.
All students submitting ACT scores are required to submit Science section scores at Georgetown University, Boston University, Pomona College, Marquette University, and to the George Washington University B.A. / M.D. program. Additionally, Students applying to Duke University, Michigan State University, and Rochester Institute of Technology are recommended to include Science scores.
Several dozen other colleges and universities – including MIT, Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Stanford, CalTech, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, and NYU – have confirmed that it will be optional for students to include ACT Science scores. We wonder to what extent “optional” will truly apply here though — will the varying degrees of test-optional we’ve seen above also apply to the ACT Science section? Will some schools prefer it in practice while officially stating it remains optional?
The vast-majority of institutions have still not clarified their official position regarding this section. For the time being, we recommend that all ACT test takers sit for the Science section in case one of their target schools undergo any policy changes.
The Classical Learning Test
Over the past eighteen months, the Classical Learning Test (CLT), an alternative to the SAT and ACT that focuses on classical texts and bars the use of a calculator, has gained significant traction. Once considered a niche test, mostly for home-schooled students applying to small, Christian liberal arts colleges, the CLT has been vaulted closer to the mainstream due, in part, to founder Jeremy Wayne Tate’s and board member Christopher F. Rufo’s relationships with Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and others in the Trump administration. A CLT score has now become a viable way to fulfill testing requirements and recommendations at all schools within the State University System of Florida. Additionally, starting in the 2027 admissions cycle, the CLT will be accepted at all Service Academies in the United States.
The architects of the CLT are quick to denounce the College Board and its flagship SAT for an alleged ideological bent, but the CLT itself does not shy away from ideology; critics of the CLT dismiss the test not only for its comparative small sample-size of testers and its for-profit status but also because its (perhaps cynical) positioning as the “conservative SAT.” While some proponents of the test may only support the test to revel in partisanship, those who operate in better faith see the CLT as means to reach a population that can struggle with more established pathways to higher education.
It will be interesting to follow to see if the CLT is able to leverage the power of the Trump Administration to be a larger player – especially as the ACT is in shambles – or if it ends up remaining on the fringes.
—
As of this writing, a relatively small percentage of colleges and universities have committed to a long-term admissions testing strategy. As provisional policies expire, we expect to see more high-visibility institutions making conclusive decisions about the role standardized testing will play in the future of their admissions. Additionally, institutions decide how to navigate the chaos of the Enhanced ACT and the greater normalization of the CLT, we expect further adjustments. We will follow these policy changes here as the U.S. higher education admissions landscape continues to evolve.
Written by
Zachary Adler
Since 2010, Zach has been helping students achieve their college readiness goals, specializing in all sections of the SAT, ACT, PSAT, and SHSAT. Prior to joining Onsen, Zach worked for a global investment firm, as well as in various roles in the education space. He has served as a youth mentor and has run college readiness information sessions for students in under-resourced communities. Additionally, Zach is a writer and filmmaker. He is an International Baccalaureate scholar and a graduate of Boston University.