Test-optional policies: Where we've been and what's next

In 2020, we were on the front lines of hundreds of colleges and universities broadening their admissions requirements to allow students to apply and gain acceptance without a standardized test score. When Yale University and Dartmouth University announced in February 2024 that they would be resuming their testing requirement for all undergraduate admissions, it sent a round of tremors through the world of higher education enrollment.  

Over the past year, my EAB colleagues and I fielded a number of calls from enrollment leaders wondering whether these policy shifts portended a broader trend across the higher education industry. In recent months, test-optional policies have come into the national spotlight as the new administration has signaled increasing scrutiny of any admissions policies that could be perceived as proxies for race-based affirmative action.  

We wanted to know: How have test-optional policies evolved since the pandemic, and what is likely to happen in the face of this new scrutiny? 

A Comprehensive Review of Test-Optional Policies

In 2024, our analysts combed through application marketing materials for all of our Enroll360 partners to identify whether emails, mailers, social media posts, or SMS messages highlighted test-optional policies. In addition, an EAB researcher performed a comprehensive review of each partner’s admissions webpages to validate whether certain partners might accept applications without test scores, even if they were not promoting test-optional policies in their outbound marketing. 

The review found that 83% of EAB Enroll360 marketing partners are currently promoting test-optional policies within their admissions application marketing emails. The review of actual admissions websites revealed even broader adoption. Based on stated policies, 95% of Enroll360 partners are allowing students to apply and gain admission without a test score. 

For those of you doing the math, that also means that 12% of partners are admitting students without a test score but are not promoting their test-optional status in outbound communications. In some cases, that disparity between communications and policy exists because the test-optional policy has caveats or complications, such as being restricted to certain majors or GPA ranges, or because the institution strongly encourages test submissions even though testing is not strictly required. In other cases, there are specific institutional reasons for not communicating this information more directly to students and families. 

The Impact of Dartmouth and Yale 

Since Yale and Dartmouth’s announcements, other institutions—including Harvard, Brown, and Cornell—have announced their intention to return to standardized test score requirements for Fall 2025. But an important factor to note: elite colleges like Dartmouth, which has a six percent acceptance rate for its most recent class, have a specific need for distinguishing among a surfeit of highly qualified candidates that is fundamentally different from most colleges and universities. 

For institutions beyond the Ivy League and “Ivy-adjacent,” other indicators of ability and readiness beyond SAT or ACT scores have been serving them effectively. Across our partner base, test-optional policies remain largely unchanged since the last cycle. We revisited our February 2024 analysis and found that 92% still have test-optional policies posted on their website—a negligible decrease from the 95%, representing only a handful of schools. 

Survey of 5k Gen Z Students Highlights DEI Impact of Test-Optional Admissions

Rapid Pendulum Swings Unlikely

With the growing political focus on higher ed, will institutions feel pressure from the Trump administration to return to mandatory standardized testing?  

Our assessment is that a rapid shift back to standardized testing requirements is unlikely for most undergraduate institutions. For one, many colleges and universities have already invested in the infrastructure to support a test-optional model. In addition, the partners we’ve spoken with see important benefits from test-optional policies, including expanding access and receiving a more diverse pool of applicants.  

While the new administration may attempt to influence higher ed’s admission processes, it’s still too early to tell how much impact that would have. To help partners work through today’s evolving political landscape, we’ve created the Federal Policy Navigation Suite for Education Leaders, where you can find strategies to make informed decisions and cut through the distractions.

Spring Website Cleaning: Highly Recommended

Our review of today’s test-optional landscape reveals a few opportunities that enrollment teams and college leaders more broadly should consider. Even though test-optional policies have become widespread, some colleges maintain confusing and difficult-to-find policy statements on testing requirements. For many of these institutions, who have already made the decision to accept applicants without test scores, there is little downside to making test-optional policies clearer and easier to find. We recommend a “secret shopper” audit of your admissions website to ensure that prospective students can easily find and comprehend testing requirements. 

In addition, some institutions are offering test-optional policies but qualifying them with a range of caveats and requirements, such as minimum GPA, geographic origin, or specific program of study. While these exceptions are understandable, their complexity could be discouraging or confusing to prospective students and families. It might be worth reconsidering whether those requirements are essential at this point, especially since the preponderance of institutions have established simpler, more clear-cut policies. 

Test-Optional Admissions Rubric for Colleges and Universities

Regardless, outbound communications to prospective applicants and families during students’ senior year ought to highlight important aspects and benefits of the application process, such as the college’s willingness to consider candidates without test scores. Especially today, when most other colleges and universities are offering test-optional admissions policies, not communicating about an existing test-optional policy seems like an unnecessary roadblock in the way of encouraging students to apply—surely something no admission team desires.

Key Takeaways

• Our review of our partners’ marketing content and posted policies shows that most institutions have embraced test-optional policies, and that is unlikely to change.
• In the spirit of accessibility and transparency, ensure that your test-optional policies are clearly communicated.
• We’ve found some test-optional policies to be too complex for students. We recommend removing unnecessary qualifiers where possible.