The University System will no longer consider SAT and ACT scores submitted by students for admissions and scholarship applications, according to a 14-day court settlement.
The 280,000-student, 10-campus system decided to accept a judge’s ruling last fall. Under the ruling, schools in the system will no longer consider SAT and ACT scores for admissions purposes. The university’s argument at the time was that these test scores were submitted by students on a voluntary basis.
Some education activists argue that these standardized tests disadvantage minority and low-income students. They argued that it was easier for affluent families to prepare for these standardized tests because they could afford to send their children to test-taking classes and therefore their test scores were high, but that many students from disadvantaged backgrounds did not have access to such test-taking training.
A California court recently ruled on the lawsuit, which was filed by students and nonprofit organizations as early as 2019. According to Amanda Savage, an attorney representing the students, the court’s decision ensures that the University will not return to using SAT and ACT scores as admissions criteria. She said the UC Board of Regents also found the tests to be racially discriminatory.
The UC Board of Regents voted last year not to use the SAT and ACT as admissions criteria until 2024, and the SAT and ACT will no longer be required for California residents to apply to the university. However, the Board of Regents said that students who plan to apply to Cal State in 2021 and 2022 will still be able to submit SAT and ACT scores at their own discretion.
According to the Board of Regents’ decision, from fall 2021 through spring 2025, SAT and ACT scores will no longer be considered for admission to Cal Poly, but will be used as a reference for course selection if students decide to submit SAT and ACT scores at their own discretion.
The Massachusetts nonprofit organization FairTest said last year that more than 1,400 colleges and universities across the United States have decided that students applying for fall classes in college in 2022 do not need to submit SAT or ACT test scores. More than 60 percent of all colleges and universities in the U.S. have waived test scores.
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