Stanford College will reinstate the SAT or ACT as a requirement for undergraduate admission, becoming a member of a rush by different selective faculties to convey again standardized testing after a pause throughout the pandemic.
The brand new coverage will cowl college students making use of within the fall of subsequent 12 months for admission to the category of 2030, Stanford stated in a assertion Friday, citing an interval evaluate that discovered the checks are “an important predictor of academic performance.” Testing will stay elective for college students making use of this 12 months.
Stanford is becoming a member of a return to standardized testing at faculties together with Harvard College, Yale College and the California Institute of Know-how amid a shifting admissions panorama for prime college students. Most of the faculties have argued that the checks can present them with better context about whether or not less-privileged candidates are probably to achieve school.
“The renewed testing requirement will allow Stanford to consider the fullest array of information in support of each student’s application,” the Palo Alto, California-based college stated.
Stanford stated it’s delaying the testing requirement till the autumn of 2025 to offer potential candidates time to organize.
Testing opponents have lengthy argued that the requirement favors wealthier college students who can afford tutoring and preparation programs. Prestigious schools began to bypass testing when it turned impractical on the peak of the pandemic as check facilities closed.
Since then, nonetheless, a few of the most elite US faculties have grown involved that not utilizing checks made it tougher to establish proficient college students from much less privileged backgrounds. Schools have additionally been rethinking their software processes after the Supreme Courtroom dominated final 12 months that faculties can’t think about race in admissions.
The Massachusetts Institute of Know-how restored check necessities two years in the past.
Stanford is among the many most selective US schools, admitting 3.9% of the candidates for the category of 2027, based on college knowledge. Its acceptance price was decrease than all Ivy League faculties besides Harvard, which had a 3.4% price for a similar cohort.
