Brown University Backtracks on ‘Test-Optional’ Policy, Reinstates Standardized Tests for Admission

People walk past Sayles Hall on the campus of Brown University, in Providence, R.I., on May 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Brown University will reinstate its standardized testing requirements for admission for students applying for the 2025-2026 academic year, officials announced on March 5.

In a press release, the university said its decision to backtrack on its “test-optional” policy that was rolled out during the COVID-19 pandemic followed “months of analysis and deliberation” by its ad hoc committee on admissions policies.

Brown University’s president Christina H. Paxson ultimately accepted the committee’s recommendations this week. The committee is composed of senior faculty and alumni members of Brown’s highest governing body, the Corporation of Brown University.

The decision means that the university will reinstate the requirement for first-year admission applicants to submit SAT and ACT scores, except in rare circumstances where these tests are unavailable. This applies to the Class of 2029 whose students will enroll at Brown in the 2025-26 academic year.

“This will accompany enhanced communications to students and school counselors emphasizing that test scores are interpreted in the context of a student’s background and educational opportunities,” the school said.

Officials said that the reinstatement of standardized testing requirements underscores Brown’s commitment to “academic excellence, access, and diversity,” and allows students from the widest possible range of backgrounds to access a Brown education.

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Provost Francis J. Doyle III, who served as co-chair of the committee alongside Brown alumna and trustee Preetha Basaviah, also stated that SAT and ACT scores are among the key indicators that help predict a student’s ability to succeed and thrive in a demanding academic environment at the university.

Standardized Testing Under Fire

The decision means Brown University is following in the footsteps of other Ivy League schools, including Yale University and Dartmouth College, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); all of which have backtracked on their “test-optional” policies in recent months after the pandemic initially forced the closure of high schools and ACT/SAT testing centers in 2020.

Before the pandemic, standardized testing was widely criticized by campaigners who argued the approach further disadvantaged low-income students who are unable to pay for additional courses to prepare for the various tests, effectively allowing an elitist “meritocracy” system to continue to perpetuate itself.

Supporters, however, have long argued that standardized testing is a good way of predicting college grades and performance, including a student’s chance of success post-college.

According to FairTest, some 2,000 colleges and universities across the United States will not require all recent U.S. high school graduates applying for fall 2024 admission to submit ACT/SAT results before making admissions decisions.

FairTest is an organization promoting “fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial evaluations of students, teachers, and schools,” according to its website.

‘Cultivating Diversity and Inclusion’

Ms. Paxson said she had also accepted the committee’s suggestion that the school continue to offer an early decision round in its application cycle, noting it appeals to prospective students and has contributed to efforts to enroll an undergraduate class that is “both highly qualified and diverse.”

Brown’s president said the university will also consider a “range of complex questions raised by the committee” and is seeking public input from the community regarding its current practices for applicants with family connections, including legacy applicants.

A student uses a Princeton Review SAT Preparation book to study for the test in Pembroke Pines, Fla., on March 6, 2014. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Legacy applicants are those whose immediate family members attend or attended the college.

“I continue to be proud of Brown’s strong track record of national leadership in cultivating diversity and inclusion as core tenets for sustaining academic excellence,” Ms. Paxton said.

“I am committed to ensuring these values are reflected in the way we build our student body. The decisions we have reached regarding early decision and standardized test requirements remain true to these values, and continuing to examine family connections is the right decision for the complicated questions this issue raises for our community,” she added.