Princeton University will resume requiring standardized test scores for undergraduates seeking admission to the university beginning with the 2027-28 admission cycle.
Michael Nietzel, former college president, writes on higher education Princeton University becomes the latest Ivy League institution to resume a standardized testing requirement for undergraduate admissions .
Princeton University announced this week that it will resume requiring standardized test scores for undergraduates seeking admission to the university beginning with the 2027-28 admission cycle. First-year and transfer applicants seeking admission in fall 2028 will be required to submit scores from either the SAT or ACT. “The decision to resume testing requirements follows a review of five years of data from the test-optional period, which found that academic performance at Princeton was stronger for students who chose to submit test scores than for students who did not,”“The review concluded that standardized testing is among the tools that can be helpful in indicating potential for academic success at Princeton.” Princeton said that standardized testing will remain only one element in its “comprehensive and holistic application review,” adding that there “are no minimum test score requirements for admission.” It will also make an exception for active military personnel “because lack of regular access to testing facilities and other logistical constraints associated with their service may prevent them from testing at times aligned with Princeton’s application deadlines.” Like hundreds of other colleges and universities, Princeton suspended its standardized testing requirement for undergraduate admission in 2020 because the Covid-19 pandemic made access to testing centers so difficult. It subsequently extended the pause for several additional years, and Princeton will remain test-optional for applicants seeking to enroll in fall 2026 and fall 2027. In recent years, several selective or highly selective institutions that had once paused their standardized testing requirement have re-introduced it. They include several 0f Princeton’s Ivy League peers, including Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University. Columbia University is now the only Ivy League school to continue a test-optional admission policy.CalTech, MIT, Stanford University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Texas-Austin have also re-introduced testing requirements, but many other prominent institutions like the University of Michigan, Marquette University, Northwestern University, and the University of California have kept a test-optional or test-free policy in place., a leading opponent of standardized testing requirements, more than 2,000 colleges are test-optional or test-free in their admission policies, with the majority of those schools turning to that approach after the pandemic disrupted testing on a massive scale. Like Princeton, those universities that have resumed an admission testing requirement usually justify the decision by pointing to data that they interpret as showing that test scores are correlated with academic success and add value to the admission process. For example, when Dartmouth College reactivated its testing requirement, its president, Sian Leah Beilock,that the institution’s analysis of admission date “has led us to conclude that our holistic admissions approach to identifying the most promising students, regardless of their background, benefits from a careful consideration of testing information as part of their application package. In particular, SAT/ACTs can be especially helpful in identifying students from less-resourced backgrounds who would succeed at Dartmouth but might otherwise be missed in a test-optional environment.” A shift back to standardized testing requirments is also being pushed by the Trump administration, which appears to equate high test scores with academic merit. A Februrary 2025from the Department of Education warned colleges that they could lose federal funding if they considered race in any of a broad range of campus and student policies, adding that it would be on the lookout for colleges that attempt to rely on “non-racial information as a proxy for race” and then make decisions based on that information. As an example, it would “be unlawful,” the letter said, “for an educational institution to eliminate standardized testing to achieve a desired racial balance or to increase racial diversity.”pitched to nine leading universities, the administration listed as one of several expectations of compliant universities that they would need to require that all undergraduate applicants take a standardized test, like the SAT, ACT, or CLT or a program-specific measure of ability in music, art, or other specialized programs of study so that their admission decisions were based on “objective criteria.”
Princeton University ACT SAT Trump Administration Test-Optional Colleges Fairtest Undergraduate Admissions Ivy League
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Supreme Court takes up GOP attack on Voting Rights Act in case over Black representationA Republican attack on a core provision of the Voting Rights Act designed to protect racial minorities comes to the Supreme Court, more than a decade after the justices knocked out another pillar of the 60-year-old law.
Read more »
Indigenous Peoples Day celebration held at Alaska Pacific UniversityAlaska Pacific University holds Indigenous Peoples Day celebration
Read more »
California State University to receive $6M for study on enslaved descendantsCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a law authorizing $6 million for California State University to study how to confirm an individual’s status as a descendant of an enslaved person. But he rejected other proposals aimed at addressing the state’s legacy of racist and discriminatory policies against Black Americans.
Read more »
Proposed Changes Threaten Marine Mammal Protection ActA GOP-led bill aims to weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, facing opposition from conservation groups. The Act, crucial for protecting marine life, is supported by fishermen and marine industries who view it as restrictive.
Read more »
Jim Lee Draws MacKenzie Scott As Supergirl For Princeton Alumni WeeklyJim Lee attended Princeton University in 1984, where he drew editorial cartoons for the school newspaper, The Daily Princetonian. Something we clearly have in common, I drew cartoons for my university newspaper, The Courier of Newcastle University.
Read more »
Princeton registered sex offender gets life in prison for sexually assaulting child at school bus stopA registered sex offender was found guilty in Collin County District Court for an incident involving a 12-year-old girl waiting for her school bus.
Read more »