UT Austin to reinstate standardized test scores in admissions starting next year

Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN News' top morning headlines from Monday, March 11, 2024.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After doing away with a standardized test score requirement for undergraduate applicants during the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Texas at Austin announced Monday it will reinstate test scores beginning with applicants for the Fall 2025 semester.

The University suspended the standardized score requirement in Spring 2020 due to limited testing availability during the COVID-19 pandemic. UT said in a press release at the time that the change would ensure testing limitations related to COVID-19 would not affect a student’s ability to apply.

The university will begin requiring standardized test scores and implement other changes during the Aug. 1–Dec. 1, 2024, application period.

According to a university press release, UT is also making other modifications to the application process to "strengthen holistic review and craft a stronger, more successful class." Those modifications are detailed below, per the release:

• Introduction of a new Early Action program. This optional deadline will require application submission by Oct. 15, with a guaranteed decision communicated to applicants by Jan. 15. The regular deadline for applications will remain Dec. 1, with a guaranteed decision communicated by Feb. 15.
• Modification of the required essay. This will provide greater flexibility in topic choice and enable students to leverage responses used on other applications, while expanding opportunity for a more personalized response.
• Reduction in the number of short answer responses. This reduction from three responses to two will maintain the currently used major-related question, while creating a new prompt that allows students to highlight a specific activity of their choice.
• Introduction of a waitlist. Applies to students who are not automatically admitted. Most students will be notified as early as March 1 if they are admitted from the waitlist.
• Narrowed scope for letters of recommendation. Applicants submitting letters of recommendation will be strongly encouraged to provide those letters from sources outside of their high school. This reduces the burden of this work on high school teachers and counselors and allows University staff to better leverage other materials.

UT said in a release that it experienced an all-time high number of applicants last year — approximately 73,000. It is estimated that about 90% or more of these applicants took a standardized exam, according to a range of data provided by the College Board, which administers the SAT, the release said.

The release also said analysis of the University’s own data further revealed that on average, students who submitted standardized scores performed significantly better on those exams and in their first semester of college, relative to those who did not take the test or chose not to have their scores considered as part of a review. Read more on the findings in the UT release online.

UT said it will "continue to conduct a holistic review and will consider standardized test scores and other performance metrics in light of each applicant’s background, including the strength and rigor of their high school."

"Standardized test scores will not change the admissions decision for automatic admits, of course, but will be used to match applicants to their choice of majors and to indicate who might benefit most from the University’s student success programs," the release continued.

UT is the latest among a number of universities reinstating standardized tests as part of their admissions requirements. According to Forbes, in 2022, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology became the first major elite college to reinstate the requirement. Dartmouth became the first Ivy League to bring back the SAT on Feb. 5, followed by Yale on Feb. 22. Brown made the reinstatement earlier this month.