Associate Professor Julie J. Park co-authored an article for Inside Higher Education examining the ongoing debate over the role of standardized testing in college admissions. Park and her colleagues analyzed the impact of test-optional policies, particularly how they influenced Black and low-income student enrollment during the pandemic and their significance following the Supreme Court’s decision to ban race-conscious admissions.
We are about one year out from the restricting race-conscious admissions. While test-optional and test-free policies are no panacea to the entrenched inequities that surround higher education admissions, they remain a tool that may be able to expand access in a modest fashion. Rather than just looking at what the most stringently selective colleges are doing, institutions should examine their data closely and work to ensure their admissions processes are aligned with their missions and goals related to equity and access.
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