The world of undergraduate admissions has changed dramatically since the beginning of the pandemic. More than 80 percent of all four-year colleges and universities do not require fall 2023 applicants to submit ACT or SAT scores. The overwhelming majority of those schools plan to continue test-optional admissions policies permanently.
But getting into a school still does not mean students can afford to go there. Despite the movement to test-optional and test-free policies, there is a lingering public perception that most “merit” scholarships require the use of ACT or SAT scores to determine eligibility.
This report from National Center for Fair & Open Testing seeks to dispel this broad generalization while recognizing that the continued use of test results as a determining factor for financial aid represents a major deterrent to college affordability. When coupled with the prevalence of “merit” scholarship money (as opposed to need-based aid) in state systems, the process transfers wealth from poor to rich, the report states.
Among the study’s findings:
- Most people believe that the bulk of college scholarships require a minimum ACT or SAT score to qualify. This perception has been encouraged by the manufacturers of those exams, the National Merit Scholarship program, and several prominent statewide test-based scholarships, including Louisiana’s TOPS and Georgia’s Zell Miller Scholarship.
- Both ACT, Inc. and The College Board aggressively promote the perception that winning scholarships depends on scores from their products without providing context as to how pervasive those programs are. The test prep industry aggressively reinforces a perception that encourages students and their families to view merit scholarships through the lens of standardized test scores. As a result, students allocate extra time and effort toward test preparation to improve their chances of receiving merit scholarships.
- In reality, less than one-fifth of state-funded merit scholarship programs and one-third of institution-funded merit scholarships at state flagship universities require standardized test scores.
- Many merit scholarship requirements still pose a barrier to college affordability for those who need aid the most. Students qualify to enroll but do not have enough funds to pay tuition. Especially for low-income and under-represented teenagers, scholarships that require test scores deter students from attending and, likely, from applying.