California State University system will no longer use SATs, ACTs for student admission

California State University will permanently remove SAT and ACT standardized test requirements from its undergraduate admission process, a move that university officials say will help the nation’s largest four-year university system more equitably assess prospective students.

Now, neither the CSU nor the University of California systems require standardized tests for admissions.

The California State University Board of Trustees unanimously approved the change at its meeting Tuesday, a decision that comes on the heels of the UC’s announcement last fall that it would eliminate standardized test requirements from undergraduate admissions.

“This decision aligns with the California State University’s continued efforts to level the playing field and provide greater access to a high-quality college degree for students from all backgrounds,” said Acting CSU Chancellor Steve Relyea in a statement.

Officials hope the change will bring the university system closer to its goal of increasing the graduation rate by 2025, and closing achievement gaps among students of color and low-income students.

“In essence, we are eliminating our reliance on a high-stress, high-stakes test that has shown negligible benefit and providing our applicants with greater opportunities to demonstrate their drive, talents and potential for college success,” Relyea stated.

In their place, CSU campuses will use “a multi-factored admission criteria to determine student eligibility in lieu of standardized test scores,” according to a CSU statement.

Students can still choose to submit SAT or ACT scores, which won’t be used for admissions but could be used in other ways, such as for placement in college-level English and math classes.

Standardized tests optional at many universities

During the pandemic, the university system temporarily dropped test requirements for students applying for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic year. CSU campuses now use a “multi-factor admission score,” which takes into account a slew of variables like grades, classes, background, extracurriculars and more — a practice the university system will continue to use moving forward.

But even before COVID-19, California State University was exploring the possibility of dropping standardized testing, directing its Admission Advisory Council to review the role of SAT and ACT test scores in college admissions in January 2020.

It was a directive sparked by a growing national conversation around centering equity in higher education admissions. While proponents of standardized testing say they are a good predictor for how well students from a variety of backgrounds will do in college, critics have described them as biased against underrepresented students of color and low-income students.

Already, submitting test scores is optional at more than 1,800 American colleges and universities — or nearly 80% of all four-year schools that issue bachelor’s degrees — according to FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing.

“Schools that did not require standardized exam score submission for fall 2021 admission — current first-year undergraduates — generally received more applicants, better academically qualified applicants, and more diverse pools of applicants,” FairTest executive director Bob Schaeffer said in a statement last year.

California groups praise end to SAT use

California State University’s Admission Advisory Council recommended eliminating the tests in undergraduate admissions in January this year, finding SAT and ACT tests “provide negligible additional value to the CSU admission process.”

Michele Siqueiros, president of the Campaign for College Opportunity, commended the CSU’s decision to break with standardized tests.

“A single 3-hour test on a Saturday morning has never measured a student’s full talent or potential. What these tests have measured is the unfair advantage that privileged and wealthier students have, including access to expensive test prep, which focus on how to ‘game’ the test instead of measuring the knowledge gained by students in their high school courses,” Siqueiros said in a statement. “As the nation’s largest four-year university system, educating over 480,000 students, the CSU is sending a clear message to Black, Latinx, low-income, and first-generation students that they belong in California higher education.”

Also on Wednesday, the university system announced the appointment of interim CSU Chancellor Jolene Koester.

This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 2:59 PM with the headline "California State University system will no longer use SATs, ACTs for student admission."