Whatever you call it, don't call it "Optional"

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of people are talking about how things in our society will never be the same again and how this crisis is forcing us to rethink our norms. Since we’re questioning everything, now feels like a good time to critically examine the education landscape—particularly since COVID-19 is emboldening some to advocate for some familiar changes in higher education: namely, making admissions policies “test optional.” 

Yesterday, the UC system announced that it will waive SAT and ACT scores as well as minimum grade requirements for the entering class of 2021. The problem with this message is in the fine print. UC states: “Students applying for fall 2021 are not precluded from taking standardized tests (SAT or ACT) and sending scores if they are able. Doing so can support their statewide UC eligibility, application for certain scholarships, and help them fulfill some University graduation requirements.”

Said a different way, the UC system is not requiring a test that is currently impossible for the vast majority of students to take--the right thing to do--but for those who did take the test, it’ll still help when it comes to demonstrating eligibility, financing a college education, or taking the most efficient route to graduation. 

Rather than removing barriers for low-income students, test optional policies like these obscure those barriers, making a process that already lacks transparency even more muddled. Standardized tests will still give students a higher chance of being admitted and greater access to financial aid--leaving low-income students, who are less likely to be prepared for the tests, out. As a UC faculty task force determined earlier this year, a shift to test optional admissions could actually decrease the percentage of underrepresented students who are admitted to the University of California.

Some proponents of the anti-test movement are excited by this temporary policy change and are hopeful it will lead to UC adopting test optional policies in the future. I’m not sure the UC has a better option for the class of 2021, but I am sure of one thing: test optional is not a viable long term plan for making college admissions more equitable.