Dive short:
- The University of North Carolina system will not require SAT or ACT scores for graduate admissions by the fall of 2024, which will add fuel to the test-optional movement that has exploded in the epidemic.
- UNC Systems Board of Governors members on Thursday voted to expand the policy for its 16 college campuses. Entrance test scores may still be required for certain academic programs, officials said.
- More than 1,800 colleges are not making exams compulsory for the fall of 2022, According to a calculationIncluding institutions that did not need them before the health crisis.
Dive Insights:
The spread of coronavirus blocked access to SAT and ACT test sites in 2020, leading colleges to move to a test-optional admission policy. Several prominent institutions, such as Florida Public University, still require graduate applicants to submit scores.
However, significant advances in test-optional propaganda have been made since the United States began easing epidemic restrictions. Two of the country’s largest public higher education systems, University of California And California State UniversityThe last five months have chosen to abandon the permanent admission test.
Loss of two major college systems in one of the largest test markets in the country, the test provider, the ACT and the College Board, which manages the SAT. The revenue of both has been bloody during the epidemic.
UNC’s move to temporarily stop the use of admissions tests will probably further complicate those issues.
The UNC Systems Board approved the test-optional policy on Thursday with minimal comments. Further discussions took place on Wednesday, when the board’s education planning, policy and program committee voted to send the policy to the full board of directors.
Only one board member, Thom Gulsabi, voted against the policy on Wednesday and Thursday. Gulsabi expressed concern at the committee meeting that the system could admit students who did not receive a strong enough education during the epidemic and that it should not just try to fill seats.
However, at Wednesday’s committee meeting, board members and officials cited UNC universities’ desire to be competitive with their counterparts, which remained optional.
This differs from the Cal State Governing Body’s argument for ending the admission test last month. There board members focused on the potential benefits of admitting under-represented students.
Opponents of the entrance exam say the exams are racist barometers that serve wealthy students who are fully capable of tutoring. They say the tests knock out weak applicants.
Examiners, however, have rejected racism claims, saying the exams link scholarships to low-income and other under-represented students and enable them to showcase their educational potential.
An email statement from the ACT says the registration manager Continue to recognize Testing plays an important role in the admission process, even becoming the test-optional norm.
The statement said, “This data, along with several other preparation steps, improves admission decisions, informs course placement decisions and ensures that academic support is available to help all students succeed and complete college.”
The college board did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
A UNC spokesman did not answer questions about how the system would announce the change in its admissions policy.
Not all institutions have decided to remain optional. Massachusetts Institute of Technology His needs resurfaced For the 2023-24 admission cycle, tests pointing to internal research help students predict academic performance, especially in mathematics.
And the public system of Georgia Test scores are making it mandatory For its three most academically competitive institutions: Georgia University, Georgia College and State University, and Georgia Tech.
