College admissions: Is the ACT still needed?

BROOKINGS – The COVID-19 pandemic caused seismic shifts in the education sector. Seemingly every facet of the field from the pre-pandemic days has been put under the microscope the last two years.

One of the major shifts in higher education is the way that students are admitted to college. Because of the pandemic, many universities around the country moved to a “test-optional” approach, eliminating the requirement of standardized tests for college admittance. What does this change mean for high school students, scholarships, and local universities?   

Standardized tests

In South Dakota, the most common standardized test for college admissions is the ACT (American College Testing). The ACT is broken into four subsections (reading, math, English, and science) which are graded individually. The average of those four subsections create a composite score, which is scored on a 1-36 scale (36 being a perfect score).

The ACT was first introduced in 1959 to serve as a competitor to the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Since gaining popularity in the early ’80s, the ACT has become a rite of passage for most college-bound high school students in the Midwest.

South Dakota students have traditionally scored well on the ACT. In 2020-21, the national average composite score for ACT test takers was 20.3. In South Dakota, the average score was a full-point higher (21.6).

The impact of COVID caused significant challenges to standardized tests – test dates were cancelled last minute, and some students had difficulty taking the test at all.

College admissions

In December, Harvard University announced it would no longer require students to submit a standardized test score (ACT or SAT) along with their application for four years, citing that the pandemic has created a barrier for many students to take those tests. Other schools have followed suit.

Augustana University, in Sioux Falls, has also formally implemented a new test-optional admission policy for prospective students.

“A test-optional admission policy allows for students to apply for admission without submitting ACT or SAT scores. Applicants who choose not to submit scores will be reviewed based on other measures of academic performance, such as grade-point average, high school courses, and short-answer essay responses,” Augustana’s website says. Students are still to welcome to submit test scores, as “those scores will still add value to their applications. Test scores will simply no longer be required of all students to be considered for admission.”

Augustana still publishes a required ACT composite score of 20 for those who choose to submit a score.

Shawn Helmbolt, director of admissions for South Dakota State University, said the “test-optional” approach that Harvard formally adopted was being talked about before the pandemic even began, with COVID being the straw that broke the camel’s back.

SDSU has been “test-optional” in the admission process for a number of years – even prior to the pandemic, Helmbolt wrote in an email to the Register.

“So students could be admitted without an ACT or SAT score, as long as they were meeting one of the other three academic areas (Smarter Balance scores, high school GPA, or high school class rank),” Helmbolt wrote. “However, the pandemic definitely brought new attention to the ‘test-optional’ pathways that have existed, especially as testing opportunities were limited.”

The South Dakota Board of Regent’s policy number 2:3 allows for a “test optional” admissions approach at all of their universities, including SDSU.

Helmbolt explained that SDSU has seen an increasing percentage of students applying to the university without an ACT or SAT score. In the fall of 2021, approximately 20% of admitted students applied to the university without ACT or SAT scores – an increase of 15% from past admissions cycles.

“Now that testing limitations have started to lessen, we are still seeing an increasing number of students apply to the university without ACT or SAT test scores,” Helmbolt wrote. “This mirrors what most colleges and universities across the country are seeing as ‘test-optional’ admissions is becoming more commonplace.”

Mark Petty, dean of enrollment for the University of South Dakota, explained that USD has also been test-optional, and its admission office has also seen an increase in students applying without a composite score.

Is the ACT still needed?

Even though higher education institutions in South Dakota have moved away from a standardized test score requirement, the ACT still plays a role in the high school to college transition, albeit to a lesser extent.

In South Dakota, one of the largest scholarships available to high school graduates is the South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship, which provides up to $6,500 over four years to a qualifying student to attend a “eligible higher education institution in South Dakota.”

The requirements posted for the scholarship include a minimum ACT composite score of 24, among other things.

According to a spokesperson for the South Dakota Board of Regents, the S.D. Opportunity Scholarship will still require an ACT score unless the state Legislature makes a change. Currently, there is no bill or resolution in the Legislature that would change the testing requirements.

There was a bill (Senate Bill 192) in the Legislature that was scheduled to raise the scholarship by $100 each year, until the fourth year, which would add $200 more to the scholarship. SB 192 was ultimately deferred to the 41st Legislative Day.

Can prospective students still submit ACT scores for their college application?

“(SDSU) will still accept an ACT or SAT score from a student if they choose to submit,” Helmbolt wrote. “It can be utilized in our scholarship process, for course placement, or for a few other purposes as a student is getting started. But ultimately, a student can move through our complete admission process without an ACT or SAT score and still have the same opportunities as a student with a test score.”

For SDSU, an ACT composite score of 18 is one of the “academic achievements” that is published for admission on the university’s website. USD publishes an ACT composite score of 21 for admission, although a score is also no longer required.

Since the start of the pandemic, SDSU has taken further steps to ensure that students could be “fully considered” for academic scholarships and other enrollment processes without any ACT or SAT scores, Helmbolt said.

“(Thus) creating a true ‘test-optional’ pathway for any student and ensuring students who couldn’t test, or have chosen not to test, have every opportunity afforded to them,” Helmbolt wrote.

Other changes

In January, Iowa’s Board of Regents voted to formally scrape the standardized testing requirement for admittance into Iowa’s public universities.

During the pandemic, Iowa’s largest public universities, the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and Northern Iowa, chose to waive ACT or SAT score requirements to their admission process.

Rather than keep the “test-optional” approach, the board created an “Admissions Study Team” to determine if ACT scores were still a good indicator of “success” for admitted college students. The team found that a student’s high school GPA was actually a better indicator than ACT scores and thus concluded that standardized test scores would no longer be required for admittance. Iowa’s state Legislature will now vote to formally approve the removal of standardized testing requirements.

Previously, the NCAA required prospective student-athletes to take either the SAT or ACT to be eligible for competition. They used a “sliding scale” that matched the test score to the GPA. This meant that if a prospective student-athlete had a low GPA, they would need a higher test score to be eligible and vice versa. For example, someone with a high school GPA of 2.3 would need a minimum ACT score of 18 to be eligible for Division I or II sports.

This past fall, the NCAA announced they would recommend that “initial-eligibility” standards for prospective student-athletes no longer include standardized testing requirements. Outside of the pandemic, the NCAA cited its recommendation would help advance racial equity among its member institutions.

Future of the ACT

Sioux Valley High School counselor Monica Jorgenson works with high school students on a daily basis, helping them navigate their college search and college admission process. She says that over the past few years, she has seen a change in the way the ACT is viewed.

“The emphasis (on the ACT) wasn’t what it once was,” Jorgenson said.

One of the reasons why is because, at Sioux Valley for example, there has been a rise in the number of students who are looking to attend two-year institutions which do not require the ACT. That shift has contributed to less students taking the test and the overall change in attitude toward the ACT.

Two-year institutions have their own set of assessments, like the Accuplacer, which can be taken remotely and proctored by high school staff, like Jorgenson. The cost to take these tests are often much cheaper than the ACT, which costs $63 (without the writing section) per attempt.

“I’m just seeing more and more programs that don’t require standardized tests,” Jorgenson said.

Brookings School District Superintendent Klint Willert said the shift in attitudes toward the ACT is reflective of the shift in attitudes toward standardized tests in general.

“I think there is real shifting in asking the question, ‘Are you smart?’ which is kind of the overarching question that the ACT asks, to asking the bigger, broader and more relevant question, ‘How are you smart?’” Willert said. “What aptitudes do you have? And some of those aptitudes aren’t measured on an assessment like the ACT.”

Willert said that the ACT is still a good indicating measurement for some college preparedness factors, but some of the career pathways that are out there now don’t “boil down nicely to an ACT score.”

“The ACT has a place. It serves an important purpose, but I think there is awareness that we need to look at more than just that (score), too,” Willert added.