ACT to add an optional essay to its college entrance exam

The maker of the nation's second-most widely used college entrance test, the ACT, said Monday it will include an optional essay on its exam which students can take depending on the admissions requirements of the colleges where they're applying.

The announcement comes less than two months after owners of the ACT's rival, the SAT, said they would add a mandatory essay to that test.

ACT Inc., headquartered in Iowa City, Iowa, said its decision was influenced by the expectation that the University of California system will later this year require a writing sample from prospective students.

Swayed by the likely admissions reform in the California system, the College Board -- owner of the SAT -- decided in June that a mandatory essay will be included on its tests beginning in March 2005. The ACT will make the essay portion of its exam available in the fall of 2004.

Students will be required to check with universities they want to attend to determine if they need to take the essay. The writing sample will add to the cost of the exam, but ACT officials said they weren't sure how big the increase will be. The basic cost of the ACT is now $25.

A spokesman for the ACT said uncertainty over whether other institutions will follow California's lead persuaded the nonprofit to give individual colleges and universities the option of requiring that applicants take the writing test.

"We don't want to charge students for something they may not need because it is going to cost a little more," said the ACT's Ken Gullette.

The test-maker said it has no plans to make further additions to its exam. A record 1.12 million of this year's high school graduates took the ACT.

The composite score, 20.8, represented a slight drop from the 2001 average, 21. ACT officials attributed the decline to results from Colorado and Illinois where thousands of high school juniors, including many without an expressed interest in pursuing higher education, were required to take the test.

The SAT was administered to 1.3 million students in the class of 2002.