I hear colleges are dropping ACT?

As I stand before various education groups the questions that come at me are often telling of what's being discussed over the coffee table. Lately, it's been, "I've read that colleges are dropping using the ACT or SAT for admission?" What is implied is, our efforts to have the ACT as the foundation for our high school tests were a mistake. I still believe MASSP did the right thing and here's why.

- We know that most colleges/universities still require official ACT/SAT scores from those who are enrolling.
- We also know that many postsecondary institutions are using the ACT/SAT scores for ranking purposes (US News and World Report, etc.). Therefore, it is to the advantage of some institutions to be 'test optional' for reporting scores as the feeling is that most students not reporting would have less than desirable scores, thus giving the institution a higher average for those that do report.

Fair Test claims there are 755 institutions that are test optional - however, we know from this group

- 133 Use ACT/SAT scores for placement and/or academic advising
- 17 require the ACT/SAT only from out-of-state applicants
- 186 require test scores when a minimum GPA or class rank is not met
- 18 require test scores to enter some programs on campus
- 53 must submit a COMPASS, CPAt, TABE, WAIS, Stanford, ASSET or other test scores if not submitting ACT or SAT scores
- 15 are distance ed. schools
- 121 are schools of rabbinical studies, bible colleges or seminaries
- 11 use an admissions eligibility index that may or may not include test scores

If you remove these 500+ schools from the list - the remainder, except for a few prominent private liberal arts colleges (that attract higher end students anyway, and are small enough to work with the occasional ill-prepared student), includes on-line institutions, proprietary colleges, and multi-campus institutions (i.e. Davenport University with 21 campuses in Michigan....counted 21 times).