The University of Connecticut is staying test optional through the Fall 2026 semester. This is as a result of data showing that the university’s applicant pool has become more diverse and that test scores are not needed to predict student success.
UConn Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said in a written statement that “UConn started its test optional approach with the class of applicants that arrived at UConn in fall of 2021 beginning it as a three-year pilot program to see if it met the goals of widening access to UConn and encouraging interest from a broader population of potential applicants.”
UConn asked the Neag School of Education to complete a study on the impact of switching to test optional. Professor Morgaen Donaldson and Associate Professor Eric Loken conducted the study with the help of two graduate students. They found that students from more diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as more first generation students, applied to UConn as a result of UConn switching to being a test optional school.
About two-thirds of applicants to UConn in 2021 and 2022 did not submit test scores, with women and underrepresented populations being more likely to go test optional. However, Donaldson said that “the test optional pilot cannot be separated from the pandemic” at UConn, which is why gathering more data could help her confirm the trend.
“The test optional pilot allows applicants to choose the measures that put them in the best light, and sometimes standardized test scores might not put an applicant in the best light, so they can choose to accentuate their GPA or extracurriculars or community service,” Donaldson said.
This plays to the strengths of a broader applicant pool, more so than if admissions were just inherently focused on test scores and GPA. While Reitz said that “UConn has never used SAT or ACT scores as a primary make-or-break factor in deciding whether to offer admission to applicants,” some students likely felt discouraged from applying as a result of low test scores.
“The students who are higher income tend to have access to stronger schools; they tend to have access to SAT preparation; they tend to just bring all of their privileges that are reflected on how they do on their tests,” Donaldson said.
While describing this inequity, Donaldson said “it’s just a host of different factors; it’s hard to disentangle and say that one factor is the leading factor, but there’s a very strong correlation between family income and SAT scores.” Students with learning disabilities are also more likely to benefit from UConn remaining test optional because even with accommodations, their GPA and a portfolio are likely to paint them in a better light than their test scores.
Donaldson’s study, which involved interviews with students two years ago, along with a survey of students and interviews last year, found that while very high SAT or ACT scores seemed to be an indicator of academic success, scores were not correlated with success at other ranges. While UConn saw higher numbers of students on academic probation following UConn switching to being a test optional university, this is probably due to the pandemic distorting the data. Further research conducted while UConn stays test optional will help to clarify this.
In the news, elite universities such as Yale, MIT and Dartmouth have reinstated mandatory testing for students. Donaldson said that these elite schools might benefit from being test mandatory, as some low income students who would get in if they shared their scores are being rejected because they are not sharing their scores. However, she said while it seemed to her like this was a good choice for these schools, given UConn’s different applicant pool and pool of admitted students, this would not be a good choice for UConn.
“I know there’s a lot more discussion right now about returning to mandatory admissions tests, but that discussion is really driven by a very small number of very selective institutions- Yale, Dartmouth, MIT- and those are not representative of colleges and universities in the US, they’re really not typical in really any way,” said Donaldson “So I hope that universities and colleges make the decision that works for them based on the data from their applicants and their students and are not just getting swayed into what these very atypical institutions are doing,”