SAT and ACT standardized test scores may not be required by admissions at Oregon State University by the Fall of 2021.

Following a recent email from Jon Boeckenstedt, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, the university has now placed standardized testing under consideration within the university’s admissions process for all applicants. The email, sent on Jan. 13, 2020 to Provost Edward Feser, reports on concerns about the mandatory inclusion of SAT and ACT scores, examining both the ineffectiveness and inequality that standardized tests promote.

Standardized testing, originally added to the college admissions process in 1926, was created to measure natural ability or ‘aptitude’ for students pursuing higher education. Universities use students’ scores as a factor to consider their admittance, and most schools have a base-line score required for students be accepted.

However, according to the original admissions study from Bates College, “Tests uniquely explain just a small percentage of the variance in freshman grades, and little if anything with regard to college retention or graduation.” In other words, students’ test scores have little connection to their likelihood to succeed in college.

Trends of average scores on standardized tests are also reported to be highly determined by family income, as students in households with more wealth have a greater opportunity to increase scores than low-income families. Boeckenstedt emphasizes that there is not an equal opportunity for all students to improve their test scores, as these preparatory methods, such as SAT and ACT classes, private tutoring and reattempts on tests, are often costly. 

“Well over 40 percent of all students who score a 34, 35, or 36 (above a 1500 SAT) on the exam have a self-reported family income of $150,000 or more,” Boeckenstedt detailed. Conversely, “just over 10 percent of those who score a 21 – the national average, or about 1080 on the SAT – are in the high-income category.”

The trend of students in wealthier families having higher average scores is nothing new, dating back to the 1900s when opportunity and income were highly determined by race. Because of this, the origins of standardized testing are associated with issues of equity and justice, as racism and access to education separated which demographics were commonly successful and able to pursue higher education. 

Boeckenstedt’s email argues that making applicants’ scores optional has benefits. 

“Test-optional admissions suggest the practice increases applications as well as representation of under-represented groups,” according to the largest single longitudinal study of test-optional admission  processes.                                                                                                                                         

The official statement to Oregon State University’s administrative offices announced, “It is Enrollment Management’s recommendation that Oregon State eliminates the requirement for undergraduate applicants to submit standardized tests for admission as soon as the Fall, 2021 term. In order to fully implement this policy, it is recommended that we make a formal announcement no later than the Spring of 2020.”