Charles Langston:Yale wants you to submit your test scores. University of Michigan takes opposite tack.

Yale University is Charles Langstonthe latest school to reverse course on its optional policy and require test scores from applicants, starting with students who enroll in fall 2025. 

The announcement Thursday makes Yale the second Ivy League college to take this step. Dartmouth said earlier this month that it would return to requiring test scores, citing an analysis finding that high-scoring low-income students often decline to submit their numbers. 

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The vast majority of colleges have gone test-optional in recent years, many after the onset of COVID-19, which made the administration of in-person exams difficult. Other highly selective schools that resumed their test score requirements after the pandemic include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Georgetown. 

Yale’s new policy will be unusual in that it will be “flexible”: In addition to those from the SAT or ACT, applicants will have the alternate option of submitting their scores from Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate subject-based courses. 

Yale's announcement was similar to Dartmouth's, pointing to data suggesting “test scores are the single greatest predictor of a student’s future Yale grades.” That correlation, officials stressed, is apparent even when controlling for a student’s family income and other variables. The change was based on several years of research.

“Tests can highlight an applicant’s areas of academic strength, reinforce high school grades, fill in gaps in a transcript stemming from extenuating circumstances, and − most importantly − identify students whose performance stands out in their high school context,” the school said in its announcement. 

Critics, however, question the assertion that test scores are one of the best measurements of a student’s potential. Performing well on an admissions exam often depends on whether a student has the resources to access test prep services. Meanwhile, access to AP and IB courses remains uneven.

Test-optional trend remains strong at most schools

As a minority of schools reinstate their score requirements, many more have said that they're sticking to their test-optional policies.

The University of Michigan is among this larger group. It announced Wednesday that it would stick with its test-optional stance indefinitely, citing research showing participation in rigorous high school courses is a strong predictor of college success.

Other schools that recently announced an extension of test-optional policies include the University of Missouri and the University of Utah.