Repurposing the SAT and ACT: 

The Future for American College Admissions 

For years, the SAT and ACT in combination with high school grades and extracurricular activities have been considered the basic application for college admission. Previously before the pandemic, students across the world applying to American colleges and universities were required to take and submit their SAT and/or ACT scores. College admissions officers had used these exams as a predictor of a high school student’s readiness for higher education and determined whether they would be accepted or declined to their applied institution. However, as the pandemic resulted in the closing of many testing sites, colleges and universities including the Universities of California and California State Universities changed their admission process for the first time in years by making  the SAT and ACT optional. While the SAT and ACT have been used as predictors of a successful college student for decades, the purpose of these two exams should be readjusted and used as a way to measure the progress of a high school student over time because American academia could never truly remove academic testing as a part of their curriculum and reinstating the SAT and ACT as before will not fully address and solve any of its previous issues regarding their racial, gender, and socioeconomic bias. Ultimately, using the SAT and ACT as an assessment of student progress will help students and related guardians, teachers, school districts and even other academic institutions view their profile and academic journey more accurately and equally. 

On one hand, to improve college admission for future applications, universities and colleges can remove the SAT and ACT completely from their process. Removing the SAT and ACT from college admissions has been a controversial issue argued between admission officers, professors, and educational experts who have questioned the validity and reliability of using these exams as a predictor of a successful college student for decades. By eliminating these high stakes exams, it will allow higher education institutions to obtain a more diverse student body, lower stress in their applicants, and increase the accessibility of high quality college education. 

Most recently, the Cal State Students Association (CSSA) and the Academic Senate of California State University (ASCSU) unanimously supported amending Title 5 of California Code of Regulations in removing the SAT and ACT academic exams from future undergraduate admissions (CSU NewsCenter). Through this action, CSU’s Admission Advisory Council (AAC) believes that this will allow students from all backgrounds to have a higher chance of a college degree with less stress following a previously conducted research in 2014. The study looked at 33 nationwide institutions and found minor differences in students’ graduation rates and GPA’s between those who submitted their SAT/ACT test results and those who did not.. Researchers found that among the 123,000 students, the difference between test score submitters and non-submitters was 0.05 of their GPA points and 0.6% of graduate rates. According to the researchers’ standard, these differences were considered statistically insignificant and trivial (Hiss). 

Figure #1 - Summary of Key Statistics between Non-Submitters and Submitters

Furthermore, with the SAT and ACT as optional exams, high school students should be encouraged to focus more on their coursework and explore more opportunities around them such as committing to extracurricular activities and/or community service. Researchers have found that students who actively participate in community service and extracurricular activities have shown to undergo and improve on personal character, social development, and academic achievement. A study observing the impact of extracurriculars and community service on middle school students concluded that activities such as volunteering and sports promotes personal and communal responsibilities along with good citizenship (Camara). Furthermore, the study found that middle school students who volunteered and participated in community service had higher GPAs and scored higher in both the Math and English Language Arts (ELA) of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) that was designed to measure middle school students’ progress towards mastering basic skills and concepts. Figure #2 below shows the observed middle school students benefiting from activities such as volunteering where students who participated had a greater GPA average of 3.18 in comparison to those who do not participate in community service, 2.53, a significant difference of 0.65.

Figure #2 - Grade 8 Mean Scores and Standard Deviation

 In addition, students who volunteer and participate in extracurricular activities have also self-reported higher levels of confidence, resilience, and positivity on self-concept and self-worth. These students have also been observed to learn and gain many character-building traits needed in the workplace such as time management, leadership, and ability to accept constructive criticism, all traits required for intellectual and personal growth (Christison). 

As a result, removing the SAT and ACT might be the better option to reduce high school students' stress for future college admissions cycles and might provide fewer consequences than many thought. 

However, completely discontinuing the SAT and ACT sounds unrealistic. American academica has prided itself on rigorous academic testing since the 1940s believing it is the best measurement of one’s intelligence and qualifications which has influenced most college admissions processes to require and heavily rely on applicants’ SAT/ACT scores to judge and determine those who should be admitted and those who should be declined. With the SAT and/or ACT removed from future applications, college admissions officers will be forced to place a bigger emphasis on a high school student’s GPA and extracurricular activities. While this could influence students to focus on their high school grades and opportunities, this ideology will assume that all high school students have equal opportunities and socioeconomic statuses, the same issues that were rooted into the SAT and ACT. Therefore, completely removing the SAT and ACT seems impossible.

Realistically, the American higher education system will most likely never let go of their love for the SAT and ACT. As a result, the other hand is to reinstate the SAT and ACT once again for future applicants. However, returning American universities’ and college’s applications as before, by requiring the SAT and/or ACT, will not solve any problems that previously existed during the time the SAT and ACT were required, but rather appease and promote American rigorous academic standards.

Even though, the Universities of California (UCs) and California State Universities (CSUs) acknowledged the faults and inequalities presented in the SAT and ACT, they continue postponing their requirements for academic testing as part of their admission cycle and proposed an alternative solution: allowing these academic exams to be an optional component of their admission process until the Fall of 2025 and in the meantime the UC system will develop “a fair and equivalent exam” to the SAT and ACT (Gao). While some will believe that creating a new admissions exam will prevent the socio-economic, racial, and gender issues that persisted within the SAT and ACT, standardized testing can be easily manipulated and will not even address these problems. Socio-economic and racial inequalities tend to come hand in hand. They are presented because of the differences in wealth and opportunities available for students in low-income families versus those from high affluent families. Furthermore, due to America’s racist background, certain racial and ethic minority groups, notably Black and Hispanic families, have historically less opportunities and resources such as community service, extracurricular activities, Advance Placement (AP) courses, and/or tutoring to help nurture their students who tend to be in low-income districts and communities (Hammond). Gender inequalities created from stereotypes deep-rooted into American culture could not be solved with the creation of a new exam either (Erde). Summarized, a new exam will not even address these prevalent issues with the SAT and ACT (University of California Admissions) and this solution will only continue the tradition of rigorous academic testing for high school students. 

Despite the lack of improvement from either creating a new admissions exam or continuing the SAT and ACT,  a few colleges and universities recently have decided to reinstate this requisite for their future application cycle. In the past month, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) admission board announced that they will reinstate their SAT/ACT requirement for their next and future admissions cycle, arguing that these test scores will help assess and identify academic preparedness in student profiles while taking into account the barriers from low socioeconomic status, racial, and gender inequalities (Schmill). Furthermore, having the SAT and ACT back, will help lessen the emphasis on the remaining components of one’s college application: grade point average (GPA) and extracurricular activities. Adding back these high-stakes exams will help colleges and universities to take into consideration students' high school profile, socioeconomic status, and environment. In other words, imagine attending a school district lacking opportunities where advanced placement courses and exams are not available. In comparison to a  wealthier district, you would be at a major disadvantage GPA wise because the lack of AP courses will cause you to have a  lower GPA  which college admission officers will look down upon.

However, reinstating the SAT and ACT as a necessary component of a college application, will only restart the endless debate of continuing or discontinuing the academic testing for future applicants and will not even present a solution on how to solve the issues relating to the SAT and ACT. Both sides of the debate on whether to continue or remove the SAT and ACT as determining factors for college admissions believe that their solution will benefit future applicants. However, both of these possible solutions seem unlikely and unreasonable. Ultimately, this requires a compromise. Removing the SAT and ACT completely from college admissions is unrealistic, but if these exams could be utilized for a different purpose, then perhaps everyone can benefit from this change. The SAT and/or ACT can be used to promote educational equality by allowing public high school students along with their public school districts and higher education institutions to view their academic progress as part of their academic admission profile. Furthermore, using the SAT and/or ACT as a way to measure high schoolers’ learning and progression will support California’s legislation — the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) — which requires public schools to administer certain assessments on the English language arts and mathematics from grade 3rd to 11th. Instead of creating a separate standardized test such as the California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program and California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) which are examples of how California's education system measures how well their students are progressively perform in math and English, the state could use the SAT and/or ACT. By using the SAT and/or ACT as a primary method to measure students’ readiness for higher education, it will help support both American academics as a whole and the academic testing business (“Early Assessment Program”). 

Furthermore, if California’s school districts, UCs, CSUs, and California Community Colleges (CCC) wanted to fulfill legal policies and continue standardized testing for course placement and student progress as required by California’s Department of Education such as California’s Early Assessment Program, Executive Order 1110 and Assembly Bill 705 which all require high schoolers of all backgrounds an early moment of higher education readiness to test and measure their ability and intelligence on written communication of the English language and Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning. It is worth noting that the SAT and ACT test these two topics equivalent to a collegiate General Education (GE) course. As a result, by making edits and changes to the SAT and ACT to become an exam that high schoolers are required to take from grades 9th to 11th to observe their academic performance and progress, colleges and universities can remove their academic testing requirements from future college admissions. Through this method of using the SAT and ACT, it presents a more accurate and timely assessment on high schooler’s growth in intelligence and weakness that they can observe. Furthermore, public nationwide school districts and companies such as College Board and American College Testing will benefit through a collaborative setting where the State Board of Education can fund academic testing companies to create and help administer standardized testing across American public schools. Along those lines, College Board and ACT Inc., owners of SAT and ACT, respectively, plan on creating digital copies of these exams which will increase the opportunities for high school students to take the test (Applerouth). 

The American educational system can use all these factors to create and place a larger emphasis on a student’s academic progress rather than selectively on their GPA and SAT/ACT score. Having student progress reports and allowing the student, their families, school districts, and higher education institutions to view their academic development, will allow the student to have more room for improvement. Furthermore, these reports could contain constructive criticism and/or complements on how a student could demonstrate certain learning habits to support proficiency. 

Although the SAT and ACT have been long standing traditions in American college admission cycles, the need of these two exams have drastically changed over time. The pandemic’s assistance in pushing the movement for removing the SAT and ACT has caused many universities and colleges to postpone their requirement for academic testing for future applicants. With this, many higher education institutions question if removing or continuing the SAT and ACT will be the better option. However, neither of these choices are the best option. Perhaps repurposing the SAT and ACT as part of California’s Education Code legislation and policy and as a measurement of high school students' progress will create  more equal opportunities.

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