Harvard University will reinstate standardised testing as a requirement of admission, the school announced Thursday, becoming the latest in a series of highly competitive universities to reverse their test-optional policies.
Students applying to enter Harvard in the autumn of 2025 and beyond will be required to submit SAT or ACT scores, although the university said a few other test scores will be accepted in “exceptional cases”, including Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests. The university had previously said it was going to keep its test-optional policy through the entering class of autumn 2026.
Within hours of Harvard’s announcement, CalTech, a science and engineering institute, also said it was reinstating its testing requirements for students applying for admission in autumn of 2025.
The schools had been among nearly 2,000 colleges across the country that dropped test-score requirements over the past few years, a trend that escalated during the pandemic when it was harder for students to get to test sites.
Dropping test-score requirements was widely viewed as a tool to help diversify admissions, by encouraging poor and underrepresented students who had potential but did not score well on the tests to apply.
However, supporters of the tests have said without scores, it became harder to identify promising students who outperformed in their environments.
New York Times News Service
