4 More Colleges Drop Testing for Admissions

Four more colleges have adopted test-optional admissions policies in the last two weeks:

• Bellarmine University is going test optional except for those who were homeschooled or international students who didn't speak English growing up.
• Clarkson College in Nebraska is going completely test optional.
• Suffolk University announced that it would be completely test optional except for those who were homeschooled or educated in nontraditional settings.
• University of St. Thomas in Minnesota is going completely test optional.

The colleges issued similar statements about their changes. St. Thomas said, "Tests like ACT and SAT aren’t always representative of a student’s ability. In fact, scores are often more correlated to a student’s household income than their academic success in college. There is also sufficient evidence that the inherent bias in standardized testing acts as a barrier that discourages many talented students from applying to schools where they could have thrived."