List of Colleges and Universities That Became Test-Optional for 2020-2021 [UPDATED]

In light of widespread test date cancellations and students’ increasingly limited access to both test preparation and testing centers as a result of the coronavirus, many American colleges and universities are eliminating their standardized testing requirement, including making the SAT and ACT optional, for the high school Class of 2021. Here’s more information about how coronavirus affects applying to college.

While most of these schools explicitly mention the coronavirus in their reasoning in making the SAT and ACT optional, others list a variety of reasons for dropping the standardized testing requirement. Indeed, a few schools have decided to drop the requirement permanently, suggesting that they were planning to make this change even before the coronavirus closed test centers and cancelled schools. (To find out more about what test-optional means and which schools are permanently test-optional, see here.)

Below, you can find all the schools that have become test-optional, either temporarily or permanently, in advance of the 2020-2021 application cycle. These schools have all announced in the past two weeks, and more are likely to announce similar changes soon, as the situation surrounding COVID-19 continues to change. If you’d like to learn more about what these changes in testing requirements mean for your application, click here.

Colleges and Universities That Became Test-Optional for Applicants in 2020-2021

• Adelphi University
• Amherst College
• Angelo State University
• Arcadia University
• Babson College
• Barnard College
• Baylor University
• Bellarmine University*
• Bentley University
• Berea College
• Berry College*
• Bethel University*
• Boston College
• Boston University
• Bradley University*
• Bridgewater College**
• Brown University
• Butler University*
• California Institute of Technology**
• California Lutheran University*
• California State University schools
• Carleton College
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Carthage College
• Case Western Reserve University
• Central Michigan University
• Centre College**
• Chapman University*
• CUNY schools
• Claremont McKenna College~
• Clarkson University
• Clemson University
• Coastal Carolina University
• Colgate University
• College of Charleston
• College of New Jersey**
• College of St. Benedict*
• College of William and Mary**
• College of Wooster*
• Colorado School of Mines
• Columbia University
• Concordia College (MN)*
• Concordia University, Nebraska*
• Cooper Union**
• Cornell University^
• Dartmouth College
• Davidson College**
• Delaware State University
• Dominican University
• Drexel University
• Drury University
• Duke University
• Eastern Illinois University
• Eastern Washington University
• Eckerd College**
• Elizabethtown College
• Elmhurst University
• Elon University**
• Emory University
• Florida Southern College
• Fordham University**
• Fort Lewis College
• Franklin College
• Georgetown University^^
• Goshen College
• Gonzaga University
• Grand Valley State University
• Greenville University
• Grinnell College
• Hamilton College
• Harvard University
• Harvey Mudd College**
• Haverford College**
• Hollins University
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Illinois State University
• Indiana University-Bloomington*
• Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis*
• Indiana Wesleyan University
• John Carroll University
• Johns Hopkins University
• Kent State University
• Kenyon College
• Lafayette College
• Lamar University*
• Lehigh University
• Lewis University
• Lipscomb University
• Loras College*
• Loyola Marymount University
• Loyola University New Orleans*
• Luther College
• Macalester College*
• Manhattan College
• Marietta College
• Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• McGill University
• Mercer University**
• Miami University-Oxford (OH)
• Michigan State University
• Middlebury College**
• Millsaps College
• Minnesota State University-Moorhead*
• Misericordia University
• Missouri State University
• Mount Vernon Nazarene University
• New York Institute of Technology
• New York University
• North Dakota State University
• North Park University
• Northeastern University
• Northwestern University
• Oakland University
• Oberlin College**
• Occidental College
• Oglethorpe University**
• Ohio State University
• Ohio University*
• Olin College of Engineering
• Oregon State University*
• Pacific University
• Pennsylvania State University
• Pomona College
• Pratt Institute
• Princeton University
• Reed College**
• Regis University
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Rhodes College**
• Rice University
• Rochester Institute of Technology*
• Rowan University
• Rutgers University-New Brunswick
• St. John Fisher College**
• St. John’s University (MN)*
• Saint Louis University*
• St. Mary’s University (TX)
• St. Olaf College*
• Salisbury University
• Santa Clara University**
• Scripps College*
• Seattle Pacific University
• Seattle University*
• Seton Hall University
• Soka University of America
• Southern Methodist University
• Stanford University
• SUNY schools
• Stephen F. Austin State University
• Stevens Institute of Technology
• Stevenson University
• Swarthmore College**
• Syracuse University
• Texas A&M University
• Texas Christian University
• Texas Tech University
• Towson University
• Tufts University**
• Tulane University
• University of California schools**
• University of Central Missouri
• University of Cincinnati**
• University of Colorado-Boulder
• University of Connecticut**
• University of the Cumberlands
• University of Delaware
• University of Dubuque*
• University of Hawaii-Mānoa
• University of Illinois-Chicago
• University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
• University of Louisville
• University of Lynchburg
• University of Maine
• University of Maryland-Baltimore County
• University of Maryland-College Park
• University of Massachusetts-Amherst**
• University of Miami
• University of Michigan
• University of Minnesota-Duluth*
• University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• University of Missouri
• University of New Mexico
• University of North Alabama
• University of North Carolina schools
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Oklahoma
• University of Oregon*
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Redlands*
• University of Rhode Island
• University of Richmond
• University of St. Francis
• University of San Diego*
• University of South Carolina
• University of Southern California
• University of Tennessee
• University of Texas-Austin
• University of Texas-San Antonio
• University of Toronto
• University of Utah**
• University of Vermont
• University of Virginia
• University of Washington*
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Valparaiso University
• Vanderbilt University
• Vassar College
• Villanova University
• Virginia Military Institute
• Virginia Tech
• Wabash College
• Washington and Lee University
• Washington State University
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Wellesley College
• West Virginia University
• West Virginia Wesleyan College
• Wheaton College (IL)
• Williams College
• Yale University

 

* These schools have gone permanently test-optional starting in 2020-2021. Some cited the coronavirus among their reasons; others made the change earlier in the year.

** These schools have implemented pilot programs in which they will not require the SAT or ACT for two or three years, after which they will decide whether or not to bring it back.

~ Claremont McKenna also specifically stated that they would not be accepting scores from the virtual, at-home tests that the College Board and ACT are hoping to offer this fall if schools are not able to reopen for in-person testing.

^ Unlike some of the other schools on this list, Cornell still strongly recommends taking the test if at all possible. Specifically, they say, “We anticipate that many students who will have had reasonable and uninterrupted opportunities to take the ACT and/or SAT during 2020 administrations will continue to submit results, and those results will continue to demonstrate preparation for college-level work.”

^^ Georgetown University has indicated that it will only be truly test-optional for students who have not taken the SAT or ACT at all. If you have ever taken either test, you must report your scores: “Please note that we do not participate in Score Choice and require submission of an applicant’s entire testing record, if one is available. Students who are not able to submit scores from either test due to the COVID-19 pandemic are welcome to apply for admission to the Class of 2025 without the tests.”