Tip Sheets
As College Board mulls standardized test change, pressures mount for private institutions
April 15, 2020
Media Contact
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the world, a growing number of colleges and universities are waiving standardized test requirements or making them optional. The College Board, which administers the SAT and the ACT, anticipated “an at-home style solution” for testing, and said it would make a formal announcement on Wednesday to clarify their recommendation.
Ronald Ehrenberg
Irving M. Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics
Ronald Ehrenberg is professor of industrial and labor relations and economics at Cornell University and the director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute.
Ehrenberg says:
“The weight placed on standardized tests in admissions has been declining in recent years as selective academic institutions try to diversify their student bodies across socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups that historically have been both underrepresented in their student bodies.
“The uncertainty caused by the pandemic and the announcement that the College Board has temporarily suspended the administration of the SAT as it seeks ‘an at-home style solution’ will most certainly continue the trend towards placing less weight on standardized tests.
“The massive increase in unemployment caused by the pandemic will likely make students and their families more cost conscious and we may see more students considering cheaper 2-year and 4-year state public institutions. This will put more pressure on admissions and financial aid budgets at private institutions, with the less selective institutions being the most vulnerable to enrollment losses and net revenue declines.”
