Students applying to IU may not need standardized test scores like the SAT or ACT. Here's why.

Michael Reschke | The Herald-Times

RICHMOND — Soon, undergraduate students applying to Indiana University won’t have to take a standardized test to be admitted.

The IU Board of Trustees approved a revision to the university’s admissions policy during its meeting Friday at IU East. The revision will allow campuses to decide whether applicants will be required to submit a score from a standardized test, such as the SAT or ACT.

The University Faculty Council and IU administrators backed the proposal, so it’s unlikely an entire campus will decide to continue requiring the test scores. However, some individual programs, such as the Kelley School of Business Direct Admission program, may still require them, said John Applegate, executive vice president for university academic affairs.

IU campuses can choose to stop requiring a standardized test score for undergraduate applicants beginning next year. That means the new policy will start with students applying in the fall of 2020 to enroll in the fall of 2021.

More than 1,000 accredited colleges and universities either do not use standardized test scores in their admissions process or have made them optional, Applegate said. In Indiana, Ball State University recently became a test-optional institution.

Colleges and universities are making this move in an attempt to level the playing field for first-generation and low-income students. For IU specifically, the genesis was joining the American Talent Initiative, said Lauren Robel, provost of the Bloomington campus.

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The initiative’s goal is to enroll 50,000 additional low- and moderate-income students in higher education by 2025. A number of colleges and universities have become members of the American Talent Initiative, including Yale University, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Michigan.

As part of its efforts to help achieve the initiative’s goal, IU officials started looking at standardized test scores. The tests were originally created as a way to level the playing field at a time when acceptance at elite institutions was primarily based on connections, such as who a student knew or whether their parents attended, Robel said.

What happened over time is that families with means began paying for additional resources so their children would score better on those tests.

Studies have shown the difference in outcomes between students who did and didn’t submit standardized test scores at test-optional institutions was trivial, Robel said. GPAs were within 0.05% of each other and graduation rates were within 0.6%, she said.

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Standardized test scores are not useless, Applegate said, but he feels overall GPA is a better predictor of academic preparation. That’s because it shows both ability and motivation, which is important for success in college, he said.

IU uses what administrators describe as a holistic approach when considering applicants. Everything from overall GPA to grade trends over time to essays will be considered.

Applicants to IU campuses that choose to implement a test-optional admissions policy can still submit a standardized test score. Nasser Paydar, chancellor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said he expects about 90% of applicants will still do this because they will be applying to multiple institutions. Some of those other institutions will likely require the scores.

In addition to the test-optional admissions policy, the board approved a change to the wording on IU’s admissions application. The application includes a question about criminal history. Consistent with the university’s holistic approach, simply having a criminal record does not bar an applicant from being admitted. The nature of the record is considered.

The application will still have a question about criminal history, but it will now include language making it clear that a criminal record will not automatically prevent someone from being admitted, Applegate said.

Contact Michael Reschke at (812) 331-4370, mreschke@heraldt.com or follow @MichaelReschke on Twitter.