"There are now well over 1,000 colleges and universities that don’t require SAT or ACT scores in deciding who to admit, a number that’s growing every year. And a new study finds that scores on those tests are of little value in predicting students’ performance in college, and raises the question: Should those tests be required at all?
Colleges that have gone ‘test optional’ enroll — and graduate — a higher proportion of low-income and first generation-students, and more students from diverse backgrounds, the researchers found in the study, Defining Access: How Test-Optional Works.
‘Our research clearly demonstrates that these students graduate often at a higher rate,’ said Steve Syverson, an assistant vice chancellor at the University of Washington Bothell, and co-author of the study." …