California State University Ditches SAT, ACT For Admissions

LONG BEACH, CA — California State University has bid adieu to requiring SAT and ACT standardized tests for undergraduate admissions.

In a major change to its admissions requirements, the university's Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution to remove the two tests from undergraduate admissions. This means SAT and ACT scores will not be used for determining who gets admitted into the university.

The university said it will not use ACT or SAT scores already taken by and submitted by students in the admissions process.

But they will be used in determining a student's placement after admission.

"If you are accepted to a CSU campus, the scores will be used as one of the measures to place you in the proper mathematics and English courses," the university said on its website.

With 23 campuses across California and about 485,000 students, California State University is the nation's largest four-year public university.

Steve Relyea, acting chancellor for the university, said the decision aligns with the school with efforts to "level the playing field" and improve access to high-quality college education for all students.

“In essence, we are eliminating our reliance on a high-stress, high-stakes test that has shown negligible benefit and providing our applicants with greater opportunities to demonstrate their drive, talents and potential for college success," Relyea said in a statement.

The university suspended the use of standardized test scores for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years. That decision was due to hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and as an attempt to mitigate what it called harmful impacts for prospective applicants.

In January, the university's admission advisory council, made up of students, faculty and administrators, recommended permanently ending the use of standardized test scores in undergraduate admissions.

The council began its review of standardized tests in the spring of last year, finding that both tests provide negligible additional value to the university's admission process.

Yammilette Rodriguez, California State University trustee, said the decision had a special place in her heart.

“I am a product of the CSU — a proud product of the CSU — and I would have been a product even sooner if I could have gotten in as a freshman,” Rodriguez said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Because of the enrollment barriers that I faced, and lack of tools offered to me as a student, I wasn’t equipped to have entry into the CSU, but I know that my story is the same for many all across California.”

California State University has campuses in Bakersfield, Camarillo, Chico, Carson, Hayward, Fresno, Fullerton, Arcata, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Vallejo, Seaside, Northridge, Pomona, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San José, San Luis Obispo, San Marcos, Rohnert Park and Turlock.

The university has said campuses used a student's “a-g” GPA and supplemental factors to inform admission decisions. This includes the number of courses exceeding minimum “a-g” requirements, household income, extracurricular involvement and other available information.

The National Center for Fair & Open Testing estimated that more than 1,800 colleges and universities now practice test-optional or test-blind admissions. That amounts to nearly 80 percent of bachelor’s degree-granting colleges and universities, and includes nearly all the nation’s most selective colleges and universities.