Colleges Reinstate Standardized Testing Requirements

In the name of “equity,” many competitive colleges had stopped using entrance exams in their application process.

Now, the pendulum has swung: Realizing that standardized tests actually do help school officials evaluate applications, administrators at Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Brown, MIT, and more have reinstated use of the SAT and ACT.

This is a good course correction and a welcome return to a time when student merit and effort mattered.

COVID-19 and ‘Antiracism’ Claims Took Aim at Standardized Testing

During the COVID-19 pandemic, administrators faced an avalanche of pressure from the media and diversity, equity, and inclusion advocates to remove testing requirements. Some said students had limited access to testing centers during the pandemic, while others claimed standardized tests were evidence of systemic racism.

For many years before the pandemic, so-called antiracists such as Ibram X. Kendi claimed standardized testing was “one of the most effective racist policies ever devised to degrade black minds.”

Turns out, Kendi and others could not substantiate their claims. Boston University closed Kendi’s research department on antiracism after a lack of quantifiable results and officials at Hopkins admitted that “test scores, when considered in context as part of a holistic approach to admissions, serve as an important predictive metric.”

The removal of these testing requirements created new challenges for universities, and administrators had fewer ways to evaluate students’ academic performance.

New Research Debunks Myth That Standardized Tests Are Racist

Earlier this month, research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that standardized tests are a better measure of student success than high school grades. The results were consistent across students’ sex, race, and family income levels.

The authors explain that these findings have important implications for educators who want students to succeed. They write that “lower-scoring students are also 42 percentage points more likely to struggle academically during their first year (defined as receiving at least one grade of C+ or lower)” and “students who do not submit test scores (as part of test-optional admissions policies at these schools in 2021-2023) achieve significantly lower levels of academic performance in college.”

So if we want admissions officers to give students opportunities to succeed, then university personnel will benefit from having more academic information on a student than just their school grade-point average.

The New University of Austin Takes a ‘Merit-First Admissions’ Approach

The University of Austin, a new college with a focus on free expression and the use of classical texts such as Homer and the Bible, will now automatically admit the top 5% of test-takers on the ACT, the SAT, and the Classical Learning Test). In a direct response to colleges that use racial preferences in admissions decisions or have otherwise compromised their entrance requirements, the University of Austin calls its new policy a “Merit-First Admissions” rule.

The University of Austin’s policy is a good one, even if standardized tests do not have to be the only factor in college admissions for every college. Students should have a range of options in higher education.

The Classic Learning Test Is Expanding Alternatives for College Entrance Exams

Colleges and universities can still account for student grades, extracurricular activities, essays, and recommendation letters. In doing so, however, school officials must answer for claims that many schools have lowered their standards to achieve a supposed diversity metric. Standardized tests have proved to offer a valuable measure of students’ overall ability.

Now, state lawmakers are proposing to add to the available testing options. In states such as Tennessee and Texas, lawmakers want to expand student alternatives for college entrance exams and allow applicants to take the Classic Learning Test instead of the SAT or ACT.

The Classic Learning Test is a newer assessment than the SAT or ACT, and it was developed by a teacher dissatisfied with the content being taught to K-12 students and the tests that followed. This test uses classical works of literature in the reading sections of the test and maintains a rigorous evaluation of student proficiency in math.

Bringing Out the Best in Young People

Admissions policies based on equity have not made more things equal—they just lowered the bar for college applicants, even setting them up for failure by not requiring an outside review of their skills.

Requiring students to submit standardized test scores is an effort to bring out the best in young people. And that should always be part of the college experience.