Test Optional is Key to Making Colleges Reflect America

Now that the COVID pandemic is "over" and a few selective colleges are reintroducing exam requirements, I wanted to write a new blog post about test-optional/free admissions.

Selective colleges returning to requiring exams under the guise of "diversity" efforts and "finding diamonds in the rough" is very disingenuous considering the white supremacist origins of the SAT that still has effects today:

The SAT isn't alone in racial disparities. The ACT isn't any better:

People would argue that a student's education plays a role in their success on exams. When we consider where schools are located, it's no secret that income plays a role in testing success, as shown by College Board with the SAT:

Students who live in wealthier zip codes are more likely to attend well-resourced public and private schools and have access to test prep and testing sites. Since College Board switched the SAT to a digital exam, students still struggle to find a sit for a Saturday administration. For example, there was only one test center site open in New York City a month out before the registration deadline for the October SAT, which is the last SAT seniors who are applying Early Decision/Action could take. I've seen countless stories from counselors talking about their students traveling GREAT distances to find a seat for the August SAT. I personally know a student who did that. The digital SAT has created a college access issue since low-income students are more likely not to have a computer, public schools are less likely to have reliable open wifi (I know this from personal experience), and can't afford to travel long distances to a testing site.

Simply put, Test Optional (or Free) is the way to go.

FairTest reports that over 90% of four-year colleges and universities are test-optional/free. Test-optional admissions have been around since 1969, starting with Bowdoin College. However, the sigma of testing as a measurement of a student's potential and success in college still promotes falsehood decades later.

Test-optional isn't a trick. Test-optional does not mean "less than." Before the virus outbreak, many excellent schools, like Trinity College, were test-optional. I was happy when my alma mater, Skidmore College, went test-optional in 2016. Now, more students like me have a better chance of a life-changing education.

Students need to understand that a test score on a single day doesn't define their ability and potential. I scored around 900 on the SAT. The Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) allowed me to attend Skidmore. I was third in my high school class and took half the APs at my under-resourced high school in Downtown Brooklyn. My SAT score didn't speak to my love of education. From the perspective of testing propaganda, I wouldn't have graduated from college on time because of my score, where I went to school, my neighborhood, and because I am first-generation.

Speaking of Skidmore, admissions told me that since the school made testing optional almost a decade ago, there have been no significant differences in success between test submitters and non-submitters.

Bates College has been test-optional for over 25 years. The school reported a .03 difference in GPA between test-submitters and non-submitters.

In 2022, Wake Forest cited a 0.13 difference in the first year to .03 by graduation.

In 2014, an extensive study on students at test-optional colleges comparing those who did and did not submit SAT or ACT scores found "virtually no difference in academic performance" between them. 

A 2018 study of 28 colleges cited a .10 to .18 difference and that nonsubmitters graduated at a higher rate.

As a college counselor who has worked in under-resourced schools, it always hurts to witness a bright student not given a chance to go away to college because of their test score. Testing robs these students of the opportunity to focus on school to become the best versions of themselves. It's time for this cycle to come to an end. I'm hopeful that colleges that have gone test-optional during the COVID pandemic will realize test scores prevented them from attaining a campus that genuinely reflects our world.

To the students worried about colleges that still require test scores for admissions and scholarships, you must question whether those colleges value you and your life experiences. Focus on researching colleges, writing your college essays, outside scholarships, especially the full-ride ones, and finishing your senior year strong. Destiny will also determine where you will be. Any college would be blessed to have you. As a student, put your health first. You are more significant than your test scores.

Founder Danny Tejada on NewsNation's "Morning in America with Hena Doba"

Our Founder, Danny Tejada, joins Canisius University's James Nowak to discuss the impact of FAFSA delays on college enrollment.

Why Colleges Must Extend Their Enrollment Deadline

Most of the students I work with are low-income or middle-class. These students represent the majority of the students applying to college. I’m worried about the FAFSA rollout because students don’t have enough time to weigh their financial options and visit schools by May 1st, “the National Enrollment Deadline.” In the best interest of students and their families, I urge colleges to push their enrollment deadline to at least May 15th for all students. 

During this month, in a normal year, I would break down financial aid packages for the schools my students have been accepted to so far so they could see how financial aid works in real-time and have more (and hopefully better) packages to look forward to. I would also start meeting with juniors and their families. In a normal year, students typically have two months to consider their financial options for college. With the FAFSA processing delayed until “mid-March,” I currently can’t give my students an accurate picture of the debt they will accrue after graduating in four years. I also have not met with juniors and their families one-on-one to start their college application journey.

All I can do now is provide an “educated” guess based on merit scholarships, predicted Pell, max Federal Student Loan, and if they are accepted into a New York school, New York State TAP grants. I can’t account for need-based aid from colleges, work-study, and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant since these things vary at every school. So, my guesses can be off. In addition, due to my caseload size, this guesswork can’t be done for every student, especially since my students have applied to over 28 colleges (thanks to our state’s two public college systems accounting for about half of that number). These financial aid lessons only occur in chance encounters when I’m trying to convince a student to complete a task for a college that could greatly benefit them, such as completing the application process for a school’s Higher Education Opportunity Program.

One of my biggest worries with the processing delay is for the students who applied to more than 20 colleges (as the FAFSA only allows for 20 colleges at a time to be listed), which is easy to do in my state and other states like California. Not every student puts their most important/favorite 20 colleges first on the FAFSA. I’ve had some students list their colleges alphabetically on the FAFSA to avoid confusion with the following list they submit. I expect further delays with aid packages from colleges that didn’t make a student’s initial list of 20. This worries me because I might not be able to break down all of my students’ financial aid packages in a timely manner.

When the processing delay was announced, and I saw colleges changing their enrollment deadline that day, I decided to keep track of these changes on an open-source Google Sheet that I clean up occasionally. Alongside the University of California, California State and CUNY systems, almost 200 colleges and universities have changed their enrollment deadline. While there isn’t any benefit to colleges that use College Board’s CSS Profile to change their enrollment date, since they can predict federal and state aid with the form, Williams College became the first CSS school to change its enrollment date. Amherst College followed recently.

Colleges are supposed to be a public good. They are supposed to produce a new generation of responsible, active, tax-paying citizens. With that said, all colleges, even the ones that use the CSS Profile, should feel a duty to push back their enrollment deadline.

It’s crucial that we give students and families a chance to fully consider all of their college options in a reasonable timeframe. For most students, this is their first substantial financial decision. It can have ever-lasting effects on their life. Colleges should let the quality of their programs, campus, and financial aid fill their first-year class, not an early deadline.