SEMO not requiring SAT/ACT for admission

A sea change appears to be happening in university education and the tide is accelerating due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (Fair Test), more than half of all four-year colleges and universities in the United States no longer require applicants to submit ACT or SAT standardized testing scores for admission in the Fall 2021 semester.

Southeast Missouri State University is a bit ahead of the curve, making the adjustment to more flexible admissions a year ago.

“We became test-optional with our Fall 2019 incoming class,” said Ann Hayes, Southeast’s communications director.

Current guidelines, Hayes said, call for acceptance to Southeast if a student reports at least a 2.75 grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale.

“Regardless of GPA and (standardized) test score, we encourage all students to apply (to Southeast),” said Hayes, adding the university’s admissions will undertake a “holistic review” of a student’s qualifications.

Some scholarships at Southeast also do not require an ACT or SAT score, Hayes said.

Southeast has experienced falling enrollment since its high-water mark for total student population in Fall 2014.

Six years ago, the university boasted an undergraduate and graduate census of 11,580.

In the most recent semester, Spring 2020, Southeast had 9,546 students, a drop of nearly 12% over the period.

Other Missouri schools have adopted more lenient admissions requirements, including Missouri State University in Springfield and University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.

According to their websites, Truman State, University of Missouri-Columbia and Mineral Area College still expect a standardized test for admission.

Fair Test, in a news release, said of 2,330 bachelor’s degree-granting colleges and universities, 1,240 have now become test-optional or test-flexible, at least temporarily.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March, Fair Test said nearly 200 schools of higher education have moved to a test-optional stance.

Fair Test reports that in 2019, the same year Southeast relaxed its admissions policy, 80.3% of U.S. students took either the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT).

The percentage is the smallest since 1992.

The standardized examination, typically given over the course of a single morning, has been criticized as discriminatory to lower-income young people, said Fair Test, because such students cannot afford the cost of the SAT/ACT nor typically can they pay for preparatory books or tutors.

Fair Test said the recent wave of schools going test-optional largely has been in response to canceled SAT and ACT examinations due to fears of the coronavirus.