Rethinking College Admissions:
The Future of ACT and SAT Requirements
Dr. Damian Betebenner
National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment
This work is licensed under a
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International License.
About Me
• Recovering academic (Boston College, 2004 to 2007).
• Currently, Senior Associate at the Center for Assessment since
• Developed the widely-used Student Growth Percentile (SGP)
methodology.
• Resides in Needham, MA (just outside Boston) with my wife,
daughter, and our dog.
• Beneficiary of college entrance exams (ACT), which played a key
role in my transition from secondary to post-secondary education.
Framing the Debate
• The evolving role of standardized testing in college
admissions.
• Overview of recent shifts: Test-optional and test-blind
policies.
• Key questions:
• Are ACT/SAT scores still relevant?
• How do these policies impact equity and access?
• What are the implications for admissions processes?
The Origins of the SAT
A Test for Merit: The Birth of the SAT
• Roots in IQ Testing:
• During World War I, psychologist Robert Yerkes developed the
Army Alpha, the first mass-administered IQ test, to evaluate
recruits.
• Carl Brigham, a Princeton psychologist and Yerkes’ assistant, later
adapted the Army Alpha to create a college admissions test.
• First SAT Administration (1926):
• Experimentally administered to a few thousand college applicants.
• Designed to measure intellectual ability rather than prior
education or social status.
Addressing Discriminatory Practices
Breaking Barriers: Counteracting Bias
• James Bryant Conant and Harvard (1933):
• As President of Harvard, Conant aimed to create an elite intellectual class selected
on merit, not privilege.
• Conant sought to expand access to Harvard through scholarships for academically
gifted students from modest backgrounds outside elite prep schools.
• Assistant Dean Henry Chauncey recommended the SAT for evaluating scholarship
candidates.
• Conant favored the SAT for its ability to measure “pure intelligence” regardless of
high school quality.
• Broader Impact:
• The SAT helped challenge biases in college admissions, offering opportunities to
students from diverse backgrounds.
The SAT Becomes a National Standard
Standardized Testing Goes National
• Milestones in Expansion:
• 1938: Chauncey persuaded College Board member schools to
use the SAT for scholarship applicants.
• 1941: Harvard required the SAT for all applicants.
• 1944: Under Chauncey’s guidance, the SAT was administered to
over 300,000 Army and Navy recruits in one day to help in
office selection, demonstrating its scalability.
• 1948: The Educational Testing Service (ETS) was chartered with
Conant as its first Chairman of the Board, and Chauncey as its
first president.
The SAT Becomes a National Standard
Standardized Testing Goes National
• Post-WWII Boom:
• The GI Bill expanded access to higher education, increasing the
demand for objective admissions tools.
• The SAT became a national standard, administered by the
newly formed College Board.
• Growth and Influence:
• By the 1950s and 1960s, most U.S. colleges and universities
used the SAT for admissions decisions.It symbolized a
meritocratic ideal, giving opportunities to students from
diverse geographic and economic backgrounds.
Challenges and Evolution
Meritocracy or Myth?
• Chauncey’s Ambitious Vision:
• Proposed the Census of Abilities, a system to test every American student twice during high school.
• Goal: Assess a range of attributes to guide students toward suitable careers and life paths, sparing them uncertainty about their future.
• Ultimately unrealized due to lack of funding and political will.
• Reflection on Vision and Reality:
• Chauncey’s vision highlights the potential of standardized testing to democratize opportunity and provide personalized guidance.
• However, the inability to implement such a system underscores enduring challenges in scaling equitable and comprehensive educational
assessments.
• Critiques Over Time:
• Concerns about cultural and economic biases in the test’s design and accessibility.
• The rise of test prep industries, which many argued undermined the SAT’s egalitarian goals.
• Reforms and Alternatives:
• Efforts to revise test content to reduce bias.
• Growing popularity of test-optional policies in the 21st century, driven by equity concerns.
• Open Questions:
• Could a modern version of the Census of Abilities—leveraging advancements in technology and data—achieve Chauncey’s goals?
• How do we balance the aspirational goals of assessment systems with practical and ethical concerns?
• What lessons can we draw from Chauncey’s ambition for the future of educational equity and standardized testing?
The Birth of the ACT
Origins of a Rival: The ACT
• Developed in 1959:
• Created by University of Iowa professor Everett Franklin Lindquist.
• Designed as an alternative to the SAT, with a focus on measuring
academic achievement rather than innate aptitude.
• Key Features:
• Four sections: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science Reasoning.
• Emphasis on curriculum-based knowledge, reflecting high school
coursework.
• Initial Adoption:
• Primarily used by Midwestern colleges and universities as an alternative
to the SAT, which dominated the East and West coasts.
Comparing the ACT and SAT
A Tale of Two Tests
• Philosophical Differences:
• ACT: Achievement-based, aligned with high school curricula.
• SAT: Originally aptitude-focused, evolved to include
achievement components.
• Regional Popularity:
• ACT gained traction in the Midwest and South, while the SAT
remained dominant on the coasts.
• Evolution Over Time:
• Both tests have undergone significant revisions to better reflect
student readiness for college.
Challenges and Evolution
Meritocracy or Myth?
• Meritocratic Goals:
• Both the SAT and ACT were introduced to promote access to higher education by evaluating
students based on ability and academic readiness rather than social status or privilege.
• These tests sought to create a more equitable admissions process by standardizing
evaluations across diverse educational backgrounds.
• Challenges to Equity: Bias and Accessibility:
• Both tests have faced criticism for cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic biases in their
design and administration.
• Access to test prep resources disproportionately benefits wealthier students, undermining
the tests' egalitarian goals.
• Regional Preferences:
• The ACT gained popularity in the Midwest and South, while the SAT dominated on the
coasts, reflecting geographic and institutional divides in higher education.
Challenges and Evolution
Meritocracy or Myth?
• Reforms Over Time:
• Both exams have undergone revisions to better align with high school curricula and
reduce perceived biases (e.g., the SAT’s shift from “aptitude” to “reasoning” to content-
based assessments).
• Introduction of fee waivers and free test prep resources aimed to level the playing field.
• Enduring Critiques:
• Despite reforms, the tests are often seen as reinforcing existing inequities in education
and opportunity.
• The rise of test-optional and test-blind policies has fueled debates about the continued
relevance of standardized testing in college admissions.
• The Future of Meritocracy:
• As more colleges adopt holistic or alternative admissions models, questions remain about
how to balance the ideals of meritocracy with practical and equitable evaluation methods.
The SAT/ACT in Practice:
Analytical Foundations and Challenges
The SAT/ACT as a Selection Tool
How the SAT/ACT Works in Practice
• Purpose:
• Designed to predict first-year college GPA and academic
readiness.
• Provides a standardized measure to compare students from
diverse educational backgrounds.
• Core Assumptions:
• Test scores are valid indicators of cognitive ability and
preparation.
• Scores allow colleges to rank and differentiate applicants
effectively.
Predictive Validity of the SAT/ACT
What Does the SAT/ACT Predict?
• Research Findings:
• Correlation between SAT/ACT scores and first-year GPA is moderate (0.4 to 0.5).
• Predictive power increases when combined with high school GPA (~0.6)
• Limited validity in predicting long-term outcomes like graduation rates.
• Strengths:
• Provides comparability across schools with varying grading standards.
• Captures general cognitive skills that align with college-level work.
• Limitations:
• Performance is influenced by socioeconomic factors, access to test prep, and test anxiety.
Factors Affecting Correlation:
• The strength of the correlation may vary by institution type, student demographics, and the
level of alignment between the SAT/ACT and the high school curriculum.
• Variability in how institutions use SAT/ACT scores (e.g., as cut scores, part of holistic review)
also influences its utility as a predictor.
The SAT’s Role in Selection
Ranking and Differentiation in Admissions
• Percentile Ranks:
• Students are ranked based on percentile scores, enabling
colleges to identify top performers.
• Score Bands:
• Colleges often group scores into bands (e.g., 1200-1300) to
simplify evaluation.
• Small score differences within bands are often not meaningful.
• Cut Scores:
• Some institutions set minimum thresholds for eligibility,
particularly for scholarships.
Equity and Bias in SAT Selection
Challenges in Fairness and Access
• Impact of Test Preparation:
• Test preparation services, such as private tutoring, prep courses, and materials, are often
prohibitively expensive, creating a divide between students who can afford them and those
who cannot.
• Wealthier families can spend thousands of dollars on test prep, which includes one-on-one
coaching, practice exams, and personalized strategies to optimize performance.
• Score Gains:
• Studies show that students who participate in extensive test prep can see gains ranging from
50 to 150 points on the SAT or equivalent improvements on the ACT.
• These improvements can disproportionately benefit already advantaged students, widening
the gap between high- and low-income groups.
• Free Resources:
• Organizations like the College Board and ACT offer free or low-cost preparation tools (e.g.,
Khan Academy for SAT prep), but these resources may not fully bridge the gap created by
personalized, paid services.
Equity and Bias in SAT Selection
Challenges in Fairness and Access
• Subtle Biases in Test Design:
• Test questions may unintentionally reflect the cultural experiences, language, and norms more familiar to students from certain racial,
ethnic, or socioeconomic groups.
• For example, a reading comprehension passage about sailing or skiing might disadvantage students who have had little exposure to
these activities due to geographic or economic factors.
• Language Barriers:
• Students for whom English is not their first language may struggle with nuanced vocabulary or idiomatic expressions, even if they have
mastered the underlying skills being tested.
• This is especially relevant in tests like the ACT or SAT that rely heavily on speed and precision in interpreting text.
• Test Development and Review:
• Efforts to address bias include diversifying test developers, running fairness reviews, and pre-testing items with representative samples.
• However, these measures cannot entirely eliminate the implicit biases that may seep into questions.
• Impact on Underrepresented Students:
• These biases can lead to a systematic underestimation of the abilities of students from minority or low-income backgrounds, reinforcing
educational inequities.
• The perception of bias also affects the credibility of standardized testing among communities historically disadvantaged by these
systems.
• Disparities in Outcomes:
• On average, higher scores are observed among students from higher-income families and well-resourced schools.
Alternatives to the SAT/ACT’s Selection Model
Is There a Better Way?
• Proposed Alternatives:
• Holistic reviews: Greater emphasis on essays,
recommendations, and extracurriculars.
• Competency-based assessments: Focus on mastery of skills
rather than test performance.
• Contextualized scoring: Adjusting for socioeconomic and
educational context.
• Considerations:
• Balancing fairness and practicality.
• Maintaining transparency in admissions decisions.
Discussion and Implications
The SAT/ACT’s Place in Modern Admissions
• Key Questions:
• Does the SAT/ACT provide a reliable and fair measure of
student potential?
• Should such tests be optional in college admissions?
• If they are used in admissions, how should colleges
balance standardized scores with other factors?
• What role should equity play in revising or replacing the
SAT/ACT’s selection model?
Redefining College Admissions:
Test-Optional and Test-Blind Policies
Introduction to Test-Optional and Test-Blind Policies
Background
• Definitions:
• Test-Optional: Applicants can choose whether to submit
standardized test scores. Colleges consider other aspects of the
application for those who opt out.
• Test-Blind: Standardized test scores are not considered at all,
even if submitted.
• Purpose:
• Address equity concerns.
• Decrease reliance on standardized tests as the primary
measure of academic potential.
History of Test-Optional Policies
The Evolution of Test-Optional Admissions
• Early Pioneers:
• Bowdoin College (1970): The first U.S. college to adopt test-
optional admissions, citing concerns about equity and access.
• University of Chicago (2018): A major research university that
went test-optional, sparking broader acceptance of the policy.
• Pandemic Acceleration:
• During COVID-19, disruptions to testing availability led to a rapid
expansion of test-optional policies across hundreds of institutions.
• Many colleges adopted these policies permanently or extended
them beyond the pandemic.
Test-Blind Policies in Practice
What Does Test-Blind Mean for Admissions?
• Pioneering Institutions:
• The University of California system eliminated standardized
tests entirely for admissions starting in 2021.
• Hampshire College has been test-blind since 2014, citing
concerns over equity and the predictive validity of standardized
tests.
• Differences from Test-Optional:
• Unlike test-optional policies, test-blind ensures that no
advantage is given to students who submit test scores.
• Requires a greater reliance on holistic evaluation methods.
Why Adopt Test-Optional or Test-Blind Policies?
Motivations Behind the Shift
• Equity Concerns:
• Address systemic inequities in standardized testing, including access to
test prep and cultural biases.
• Holistic Admissions:
• Focus on high school GPA, coursework rigor, extracurriculars, and essays
instead of test scores.
• Diverse Applicant Pools:
• Attract students who may have been discouraged from applying due to
low test scores.
• Pandemic Realities:
• COVID-19 highlighted challenges in test availability and accessibility.
Impacts of Test-Optional and Test-Blind Policies
What Do These Policies Mean for Students and Institutions?
• For Students:
• Reduced pressure to perform on a single test.
• Greater opportunity to highlight strengths in other areas.
• Concerns about increased reliance on subjective elements like essays
and extracurriculars.
• For Colleges:
• Broader applicant pools, often with increases in applications from
underrepresented groups.
• Challenges in ensuring fair and consistent evaluations without
standardized scores.
• Potential shifts in institutional rankings and perceived selectivity.
Critiques and Challenges
The Debate Around Test-Optional and Test-Blind Policies
• Critiques of Test-Optional:
• Students from privileged backgrounds may still submit high
scores, perpetuating inequities.
• Applicants who opt out of submitting scores may face implicit
bias.
• Challenges for Test-Blind Policies:
• Holistic admissions can increase workload and subjectivity in
decision-making.
• Concerns about how to evaluate academic readiness/merit
without a common measure.
The Future of Standardized Testing in Admissions
What’s Next for College Admissions?
• Ongoing Trends:
• Many institutions are evaluating the long-term impacts of
these policies on student success and diversity.
• Rise of alternative assessments like AP exams, dual-enrollment
coursework, or project-based portfolios.
• Key Questions:
• Will standardized tests continue to play any role in admissions?
• How will institutions maintain fairness and equity without
these benchmarks?
The Dartmouth Study Overview
The Role of SAT Scores at Dartmouth
• Context:
• A Dartmouth working group was formed to evaluate the role of standardized testing in
undergraduate admissions, particularly in the context of test-optional policies.
• The group aimed to assess how SAT scores relate to academic success and equity in
admissions.
• The analysis included students admitted during both test-required and test-optional
periods (2017–2022).
• A report was produced detailing the findings of the working group.
• Purpose of Study:
• Investigate the predictive validity of SAT scores for student outcomes, particularly first-
year GPA.
• Examine whether test-optional policies inadvertently disadvantage less-advantaged
applicants.
Key Findings from Dartmouth
SAT Predictive Validity and Impacts of Test-Optional Policies
• Predictive Power:
• SAT scores explain 22% of the variance in first-year GPA,
outperforming high school GPA (9%).
• Combining SAT and high school GPA increases predictive power
to 25%.
• Subgroup Analysis:
• SAT scores are equally predictive of success across
demographic groups, including less-advantaged students.
• For less-advantaged students, SAT scores often serve as a
crucial positive signal in admissions.
Implications of Test-Optional Policies
Challenges for Less-Advantaged Applicants
• Reduced Score Submission Rates:
• Under test-optional policies, less-advantaged students are less likely
to submit SAT scores, even when doing so would benefit their
applications.
• Reliance on Other Metrics:
• Without SAT scores, greater weight is placed on subjective factors like
counselor recommendations and extracurriculars, which often favor
more-advantaged students.
• Missed Opportunities:
• Many less-advantaged students with SAT scores in the 1400 range
lower their chances of admission by withholding scores.
Broader Research Context
What Do Studies Say About Standardized Testing?
• Predictive Validity Across Institutions:
• Chetty, Deming, and Friedman (2023): SAT/ACT scores predict career success,
including earnings and elite graduate school attendance, independent of
family income.
• Bettinger et al. (2013): ACT scores strongly predict first-year GPA and
retention.
• Critiques of High School GPA Alone:
• Variability in grading policies and grade inflation reduces its reliability as a
sole predictor of college success (Comeaux & Sánchez, 2020).
• Equity Concerns:
• Test-optional policies often fail to significantly increase diversity metrics
within institutions (Saboe & Terrizzi, 2019).
Policy Implications and Future Directions
Standardized Testing and Admissions Policy
• Value of SAT/ACT:
• Provides a standardized measure to evaluate students from diverse high school
contexts.
• Identifies high-achieving students from less-advantaged backgrounds when used
in context.
• Potential Reforms:
• Encourage less-advantaged students to submit scores under test-optional policies.
• Explore alternative assessments that maintain predictive validity while reducing
bias.
• Future Research Needs:
• Longitudinal studies on the impact of test-optional policies on student outcomes
and institutional diversity.
Discussion Questions
What Should Be the Role of Standardized Tests?
• How can colleges better communicate the benefits of
submitting test scores under test-optional policies?
• What reforms to standardized testing could enhance equity
without sacrificing predictive validity?
• How should colleges balance the use of standardized tests
with holistic admissions practices?
Meritocracy: A Double-Edged Sword
What is the Meritocracy Trap?
• Definition:
• In his book, Meritocracy Trap, Markovits argues that meritocracy,
initially designed to democratize opportunity, has become a system
that entrenches privilege and exacerbates inequality.
• Key Premise:
• The elite use meritocratic ideals to justify inequality while securing
advantages for their own children through resources like expensive
test prep, elite schooling, and exclusive extracurriculars.
• Relevance to College Admissions:
• Standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, while intended as tools of
merit, often reinforce existing inequities.
The Role of Standardized Testing in Meritocracy
Standardized Testing: Democratizing or Entrenching Privilege?
• Positive Aspects:
• Originally designed to level the playing field by offering a standardized
measure of ability.
• Identifies talented students from underrepresented or less-advantaged
backgrounds.
• Critiques from The Meritocracy Trap:
• Access to test prep and elite education systems skews results in favor of
wealthier families.
• The tests often reflect existing disparities rather than true academic potential.
• Implication:
• Meritocratic tools like the SAT may fail to deliver on their promise of equality
when detached from broader equity reforms.
How Meritocracy Shapes Admissions Practices
Meritocracy’s Influence on the College Admissions Systemt
• Intensified Competition:
• Elite colleges increasingly favor holistic admissions, which amplifies
competition for subjective achievements (e.g., extracurriculars, essays).
• Wealthier families leverage resources to craft “perfect” applications.
• Testing as a Signal:
• Standardized test scores often become one of the few measurable
components in an otherwise subjective process.
• Under test-optional policies, families with resources may still gain an edge by
submitting strong scores.
• Broader Critique:
• Admissions systems perpetuate the idea that success is earned, even when
opportunities are unequally distributed.
Reimagining Admissions in Light of Meritocracy
Escaping the Meritocracy Trap
• Markovits’ Suggestions:
• Deemphasize standardized tests and holistic achievements that favor elite
access.
• Invest in public education and free test prep to level the playing field.
• Shift from competitive individualism to cooperative models that value
diverse contributions.
• Potential Reforms in Admissions:
• Expand pathways for underrepresented students (e.g., guaranteed admission
for top high school graduates).
• Use socioeconomic context to interpret test scores and applications (e.g.
adversity scores).
• Focus on potential rather than performance shaped by external resources.
Discussion Questions
Meritocracy and the Future of College Admissions
• Are standardized tests inherently flawed, or can they be
reformed to serve equity?
• How do we balance merit-based admissions with the need to
address systemic inequities?
• What role should colleges play in challenging or upholding
the meritocracy trap?
Epilogue: The Meritocracy Trap
The Reinforcing Cycle of Rankings and Meritocracy
• The Rankings Race:
• Elite colleges are heavily influenced by external rankings like U.S.
News & World Report.
• Selectivity measures, including average SAT scores, play a
significant role in these rankings.
• The Easy Call:
• Admitting a student with a 1600 SAT score over a similarly qualified
student with a 1400 improves rankings and selectivity metrics.
• The decision prioritizes external prestige over broader definitions
of merit or equity.
The Dilemma: What Does “Merit” Really Mean?
Qualified vs. Overqualified Students
• The 1400 SAT Student:
• Highly capable, meets or exceeds academic standards for success.
• May bring unique perspectives, talents, or lived experiences to the
institution.
• The 1600 SAT Student:
• Offers a “perfect” academic metric that boosts institutional prestige.
• Often from wealthier backgrounds with access to resources like elite test
prep.
• The Trap:
• Choosing the higher score perpetuates a system where opportunity is
tied to privilege.
The Impact of Rankings on Admissions Decisions
How Rankings Reinforce Inequities
• External Pressure:
• Admissions offices are incentivized to prioritize metrics like SAT scores, even
when they do not align with institutional values like diversity and equity.
• Perverse Incentives:
• Institutions invest in strategies to maximize rankings rather than outcomes,
including:
• Admitting higher-scoring students.
• Offering merit-based scholarships to high-scoring applicants, often at the
expense of need-based aid.
• Result:
• Colleges inadvertently perpetuate privilege, sidelining qualified but lower-
scoring students who may thrive with the right opportunities.
Reflections: Unraveling the Meritocracy Trap
What Needs to Change?
• Rethinking Rankings:
• Institutions and ranking agencies must de-emphasize SAT/ACT
scores and focus on broader metrics like student outcomes and
diversity.
• Reinvesting in Equity:
• Shift resources toward need-based financial aid and outreach
to underrepresented communities.
• Shifting the Narrative:
• Redefine success in admissions, prioritizing potential over
prestige-driven metrics.
Closing Thought
Meritocracy or Opportunity?
• Quote for Reflection:
“A true meritocracy is not about
perfect scores or prestige—it’s
about creating pathways for all
students to succeed, regardless of
where they start.”
About this copy
The Future of ACT and SAT Requirements — Massachusetts Educational Research Association, November 2024.
This is an image-based copy of the original Keynote slides; builds and animations are flattened.