Stanford University will reinstate the SAT or ACT as a requirement for undergraduate admission, joining an initiative by other universities to reinstate standardized testing after a pause during the pandemic.
The new policy applies to students applying for admission to the class of 2030 next fall, Stanford said in a opinion Friday, citing a regular review that found the tests are “an important indicator of academic performance.” For students applying this year, the tests will remain optional.
Stanford is participating in a to return to standardized tests at universities such as Harvard University, Yale University, and the California Institute of Technology, while the admissions situation for top students is changing. Many of the universities argue that the tests can give them a better idea of whether less privileged applicants are likely to succeed at the university.
“The renewed testing requirement will enable Stanford to consider the most comprehensive range of information in each student’s application,” said the university, based in Palo Alto, California.
Stanford announced that the testing requirement would be postponed until fall 2025 to give potential applicants time to prepare.
Opponents of the tests have long argued that the requirement favors wealthier students who can afford tutoring and prep courses. Prestigious colleges began waiving testing when it became impractical at the height of the pandemic due to the closure of testing centers.
Since then, however, some of the most elite U.S. schools have worried that the abandonment of tests has made it harder to identify talented students from less privileged backgrounds. Colleges have also reconsidered their application processes after the Supreme Court ruled last year that schools cannot consider students’ race in admissions.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology reintroduced mandatory testing two years ago.
Stanford is one of the most selective U.S. colleges, admitting only 3.9 percent of applicants for the class of 2027, according to the university. The acceptance rate was lower than all Ivy League universities except Harvard, where the rate for the same class was 3.4 percent.