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Standardized Testing

This report is a much-needed call on colleges and universities to examine their ACT and SAT policies and practices, and to offer solutions that can help bring about needed change to the admission process.

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NACAC Report on Standardized Testing

This 2020 report is called "Ensuring All Students Have Access to Higher Education: The Role of Standardized Testing in the Time of COVID-19 and Beyond - Guidance for Colleges and Universities."

Defining Access: How Test-Optional Works

This 2008 report was based on a national study of test-optional admission that included data on over 900,000 individual applicant records from 28 institutions that had adopted a test-optional policy.

Use of Predictive Validity Studies to Inform Admission Practices

Survey data from more than 400 US colleges show that while the majority of institutions require students to submit ACT or SAT scores, only half track how well standardized tests predict student success on their campuses.

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MACAC's Test-Optional Resources

Minnesota ACAC believes that all colleges and universities have the capacity to make a shift to test-optional and that doing so will be beneficial for many. See MACAC's statement and resources.

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Tales of a Test-Optional Year

Many colleges are grappling with how to make a speedy transition to test-optional admission practices. To complicate matters, the transcript evaluation process is now more difficult because so many high schools adopted pass/fail grading in the spring of 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The good news? Many colleges have a long tradition of test-optional admission policies and valuable insights to share. To help you sort through the considerations, implications, and challenges, NACAC is hosting a two-day Transitioning to Test-Optional Admission Forum on August 20-21.

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NACAC Encourages Public Institutions and Systems to Make Submitting Standardized Admission Test Scores Optional for the 2021-22 Admission Cycle

In this critical time, public colleges must be mindful of their founding purpose of serving students and families and recognize that lifting testing requirements in 2020–21 will be in the students’ best interest. Taking this action will strengthen the future of our nation’s public colleges.

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