A Report on SAT and ACT Tests by NACAC

by: Leighanne Stainer

A Report on SAT and ACT Tests by NACAC

Colleges moving to end admission exam mandates.

As high school students across the nation prepare for the March 14 administration of the SAT and April 4 ACT college admissions exams, a new survey has found that more than 815 bachelor-degree granting colleges and universities do not require most applicants to submit scores from either test.

The number of such schools has soared since revised versions of the SAT and ACT were introduced in March 2005, according to the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) which compiles the test-optional list. Last fall a blue-ribbon commission sponsored by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) issued a report encouraging more institutions to consider ending admissions exam mandates.

Colleges adopting test-optional admissions.

FairTest Executive Director Jesse Mermell says nearly four-dozen colleges and universities have adopted test-optional admissions for all or most applicants in the past several years. He adds that they recognize that neither the SAT nor ACT measures what students most need to succeed in higher education. An applicant's high school record remains a better predictor of college performance than either test is.

"Many more schools are re-examining their standardized exam requirements in the wake of the NACAC Commission report. We expect the ACT/SAT optional list to continue growing as more institutions recognize that the tests remain biased, coachable, educationally damaging and irrelevant to sound admissions practices," adds FairTest Public Education Director Bob Schaeffer.