If you’ve been following Academic Approach’s blog, you know that we have been constantly posting news updates whenever another college or university announces they are revoking their COVID-era test optional policies and will once again be requiring applicants to submit ACT or SAT scores. However, with all these news articles and announcements, you may be thinking, “This is too much to keep track of. Can I just get a comprehensive list?”
We’ve got you covered. As of March 2025, the following schools have all announced a return to ACT/SAT testing requirements for undergraduate applicants.
- Augusta University
- Brown University
- California Institute of Technology
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Cornell University
- Dartmouth College
- Florida A&M University
- Florida International University
- Florida State University
- Gallaudet University
- Georgetown University
- Georgia College & State University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Georgia Southern University
- Georgia State University
- Harvard University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Kennesaw State University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- New College of Florida
- New Saint Andrews College
- Patrick Henry College
- Purdue University
- Ohio State
- Stanford University
- Thomas Aquinas College
- University of Central Florida
- University of Dallas
- University of Florida
- University of Georgia
- University of Memphis
- University of Miami
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of South Florida
- University of Tennessee
- University of Texas-Austin
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- US Air Force Academy
- US Coast Guard Academy
- US Merchant Marine Academy
- US Military Academy
- US Naval Academy
- Vanderbilt University
- Yale University
It’s important to note that some of the aforementioned schools did not require ACT/SAT scores for Fall 2025 applicants (students who will be college freshmen in the fall of 2026) but have announced plans to require future applicants to submit ACT/SAT scores. Fall 2026 applicants (students who will be college freshmen in the fall of 2027) hoping to apply to any of the above schools should therefore plan to submit their ACT/SAT scores.
The following schools do not require applicants to submit ACT/SAT scores, but they have gone out of their way to state that they highly recommend applicants include their ACT/SAT scores when applying.
- Rice University
- Auburn University
It’s important to remember that lots of colleges and universities may not have officially reinstated ACT/SAT scores as part of their admissions requirements, but, when asked to rank the importance of standardized test scores, they rank ACT/SAT scores as “important” or “very important,” which suggests that many schools continue to highly value ACT/SAT scores from applicants even if they technically remain test optional.
Some examples include New York University, Tulane University, and University of Michigan, who all are currently test-optional schools, and yet all rank ACT/SAT scores as “Very Important” in their admissions considerations. Check out our website for a summary of this information.
The following schools have publicly stated that they do NOT have any plans to reverse their test-optional policies. Of course, only time will tell if they remain committed to this policy.
- Columbia University
- University of Chicago
- The University of California system, which includes schools such as UCLA
The majority of other schools have chosen to extend their test optional policies on a year-by-year basis but have not yet given any indication what they plan to do long term.
However, the fact that so many Ivy League and highly prestigious schools have returned to requiring ACT/SAT scores makes us think that the remaining Ivy Leagues and similarly prestigious schools (e.g., Princeton University, Northwestern University, Washington University in St. Louis) will not be far behind in announcing their return to requiring ACT/SAT scores, if only to make sure they are remaining as selective as their competitors.
While it is frustrating to still not know the long-term plans of most universities, because the list of schools choosing to reinstate ACT/SAT requirements continues to grow with each passing month and is now including major university systems such as the University of Georgia university system, we do anticipate that most of the remaining colleges in the US will eventually reverse their test optional policies, at least in some form or another.
For instance, universities may choose to reinstate ACT/SAT application scores for certain schools or programs. Carneige Mellon employed this policy for Fall 2025 by “strongly encouraging” School of Computer Science applicants to submit ACT/SAT scores (including the math subscore), even though all other undergraduate applications remained test optional. Note that these rules will change for Fall of 2026 applicants. For more details, click here.
Another option that universities may choose to utilize is to only require ACT/SAT scores for applicants below a certain high school GPA. The University of North Carolina is employing this policy by requiring a minimum ACT score of 17 and minimum SAT score of 930 for applicants “with a weighted high school GPA greater than or equal to 2.50 and less than 2.80.” For more information, click here.
If more schools do decide to selectively require ACT/SAT scores for certain applicants, it will be more important than ever for your student to carefully research each school before applying. Depending on the university, this information may not be easy to locate, as many schools have been frustratingly opaque about if, when, and how they may reinstate ACT/SAT score requirements. The best way to help your student is to keep an eye out (or set up a Google alert) for news about their selected schools’ testing policies.
As we experience another year of inconsistent and confusing college application requirements, we recommend students take the simplest path: take the ACT/SAT. That way, your student has a score to submit if needed. Even if your student is planning to only apply to test-optional schools, having a good ACT/SAT score will protect them in case they later decide to apply to a school that does require standardized test scores, or in case their selected schools change course and reinstate ACT/SAT score requirements in some capacity.
At the end of the day, making sure your student has an ACT/SAT score to submit will be easiest way to navigate this ever-changing landscape of college admissions requirements.
As always, Academic Approach will be sure to keep you informed.