More Schools Drop Standardized Tests

The New York Times: "They are a rite of passage as well as anxiety-inducing letters for millions of students: the SAT and ACT. But with many high schools closed or teaching remotely for the rest of the academic year, a growing number of colleges and universities are waiving standardized test requirements amid the coronavirus pandemic ... More than two dozen — from highly selective liberal arts colleges like Williams and Amherst, both in Massachusetts, to California’s public universities — announced this spring that the tests would be optional for applicants seeking to enroll in 2021." "In the Boston area, Tufts, Northeastern and Boston University have all adopted an optional-testing policy. Both Vassar and Pomona Colleges have waived standardized tests in their admission requirement. Davidson College in North Carolina, Haverford College in Pennsylvania and Rhodes College in Tennessee will move to optional testing for three years as part of a pilot program and then re-evaluate their testing requirements. The University of California system announced on March 31 that it was suspending the standardized test requirement for first-year applicants in the fall 2021 admission cycle." "In Washington State, where the outbreak struck early, the University of Washington took similar steps. The University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Scripps College in Southern California all recently announced that they would no longer require standardized tests. Texas Christian University and Trinity University in San Antonio made testing optional for next year’s applicants, with Trinity adopting the policy for a three-year period. Both Tulane University in New Orleans and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland have waived the testing requirement for next year’s applicants."