Overview
- FairTest’s tally released Friday shows 161 of 2,247 colleges—about 7 percent—will require SAT, ACT or other scores for the 2026–27 cycle while roughly 86 percent remain test‑optional and about 4 percent are test‑free.
- The media narrative of a national return to testing is driven largely by a small group of highly selective institutions, including several Ivy League and Ivy‑Plus schools that have reinstated requirements.
- A minority of public systems have tightened rules: Florida and Tennessee now require scores at every campus and the University System of Georgia increased campuses with score requirements from three to seven.
- Applicant behavior complicates policy: Common App data from 2025–26 show 51 percent of applicants still submitted test scores at test‑optional schools, and some colleges use scores selectively to validate GPAs.
- The debate centers on predictive power and equity — proponents say tests help identify academic readiness amid grade inflation, critics point to studies favoring high school GPA at many publics and to racial and income gaps in test outcomes.