Leveraging institutional research in admission criteria changes

Gina King

Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of EAB. 

Leading diversity and student success

UMBC has had tremendous success in attracting, retaining, and graduating one of the most diverse populations of students in the country. Among other successes, we are the top producers of African American graduates who go on to earn a Ph.D. in a STEM field. As a University Innovation Alliance (UIA) member institution, UMBC established new and bold metrics and goals for degree completion in the coming years for all students. As we embark on these bold, new goals in a test-optional admissions environment, we explored ways to further align our admission criteria and practices to better support and bolster student success as a leader in this work.

Adapting UMBC’s test-optional strategy

UMBC’s decision to adopt a test-optional admission plan was pandemic-induced, when testing was no longer accessible to many high school students. When testing became available, students did not have the traditional preparation environments that were used in the past to be sure their scores reflected a practiced performance. In consultation with industry experts and colleagues in UMBC’s Institutional Research, Analysis, and Decision Support (IRADS) department, undergraduate admissions began collecting added data in our student information system when reviewing the next round of first-year applicants. Additionally, we collaborated on a multi-dimensional assessment plan to monitor test-optional and test-inclusive applicants throughout their first year for signs of academic distress.

Analyzing shifts: Impact of test-optional policy

As we moved into a full year of test-optional applications in the summer of 2021, we discovered shifts in our applicant pool. Our test reporters fell from 100% for the fall 2019 admission cycle to only 32% for fall 2023. The shift to test-optional admission coincided with increases in specific applicant demographics. First-year, first-time applications grew in the following areas: Students identifying as female (+2%), first-generation college-going (+8%), Pell recipients (+6%), and students from racial/ethnic marginalized groups, particularly those identifying as Black/African American (+6%) and Hispanic/Latino +1%).

The assessment performed by UMBC’s IRADS leveraged the following methods:

• Five-year trends and year-over-year change analyses for key demographics
• Comparison of test-optional and test submitters with interaction effects for admit and yield analyses and early indicators of success.
• Rank analyses for top-sending high schools and majors.
• Change in indicators of academic quality and performance of cohorts admitted under the policy.
• Integration of high school-level characteristics from the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) with administrative data to contextualize the social demographic and academic resources and quality of sending high schools.

While there were some differences in metrics between test submitters and non-submitters in the first cohort under the new policy, the average first-year cumulative GPA did not substantively significantly differ between the two groups. Students admitted as test-optional had similar first-year success as prior cohorts, on average. There was also evidence that access was broadened with the test-optional application process as indicated in our analysis of high school demographics.

Overall, more students came from high schools with a higher median proportion of students from historically marginalized racial/ethnic groups as well as students enrolled in the Free and Reduced-Price School Meals (FARMS) program. Test-optional students drove this increase.

Future focus: Admission enhancement

Given this shift, future work will focus on expanding the type of data we review and collect at the time of admission review to include specific courses taken in high school and district-level data on student academic rigor and the high school environment for college preparation. These data points will be transferred to IRADS for continual assessment and enhancement to our admission review criteria, using multiple test phases to confirm consistent outcomes for student success. Further, UMBC will continue leveraging admission data points and early indicators of academic success to align resources with students’ needs in our academically rigorous environment.

UMBC Research Partners

• Shannon Tinney Lichtinger, M.A., IR Certificate, SCUP-certified planner; Director of Institutional Research

• Amanda Cardone, Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant, Applied Sociology Master’s Program