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The effect of going test-optional on diversity and admissions: A propensity score matching analysis
... Although an increasing number of institutions have adopted test-optional policies (Fair-Test National Center for Fair & Open Testing, 2023;Furuta, 2017) or embraced holistic review Hossler et al., 2019), few institutions have replaced standardized tests with new, proprietary measures of applicants' potential to succeed in college. Rather, many institutions have redistributed the weight given to standardized test scores to other aspects of the admissions application such as high school grade point average (HSGPA; Galla et al., 2019;Sweitzer et al., 2018), a practice which may perpetuate barriers to equitable access for students who are systemically marginalized and have limited access to educational opportunities such as enrollment in Advanced Placement courses (Kolluri, 2018). Accordingly, recent research has highlighted the need to provide admissions officers with richer information about prospective students. ...
... As inequitable admissions practices have persisted, the criteria and methodologies colleges and universities use to evaluate admissions applicants have been the subject of substantial empirical investigation (e.g., Hossler et al., 2019;National Association for College Admission Counseling, 2016;Robbins et al., 2004). Previous research has predominately focused on cognitive factors such as standardized test scores (i.e., SAT, ACT) and other variables with cognitive and non-cognitive attributes such as high school course grades, HSGPA, and class rank (Burton & Ramist, 2001;Galla et al., 2019;Sweitzer et al., 2018). However, these criteria have been criticized as unreliable and potentially biased. ...
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented number of higher education institutions adopted test-optional admissions policies. The proliferation of these policies and the criticism of standardized admissions tests as unreliable predictors of applicants’ postsecondary educational promise have prompted the reimagining of evaluative methodologies in college admissions. However, few institutions have designed and implemented new measures of applicants’ potential for success, rather opting to redistribute the weight given to other variables such as high school course grades and high school GPA. We use multiple regression to investigate the predictive validity of a measure of non-cognitive, motivational-developmental dimensions implemented as part of a test-optional admissions policy at a large urban research university in the United States. The measure, composed of four short-answer essay questions, was developed based on the social-cognitive motivational and developmental-constructivist perspectives. Our findings suggest that scores derived from the measure make a statistically significant but small contribution to the prediction of undergraduate GPA and 4-year bachelor’s degree completion. We also find that the measure does not make a statistically significant nor practical contribution to the prediction of 5-year graduation.
... Moreover, the use of cut-scores, combined with average group differences in GRE scores, means that a smaller percentage of individuals from underrepresented groups will be given the chance to be considered based on other merits of their applications ( If the impact of undergraduate test-optional policies in the United States has been understudied (cf. Sweitzer et al., 2018), their association with student diversity at the graduate level is nearly non-existent. We are aware of only one study that examined the presumed impact of a GRE-optional policy on graduate student diversity. ...
... policies have been a subject of discussion and debate for a longer period of time than test-optional practices at the graduate level. Nonetheless, relatively few empirical studies of the relationship between test-optional policies and the composition of undergraduate applicant pools and enrolled student bodies have been conducted(Sweitzer et al., 2018). The results of those studies have been mixed. ...
Faculty members are committed to increasing the diversity of their students attending graduate school. One strategy that has been implemented in service of this goal is making the submission of GRE test scores optional. However, almost no research has examined the relationship between student demographics and propensity to submit GRE scores. This is the first study to do so using a relatively large sample (N > 15,000). We studied two demographic categories that are underrepresented in many academic disciplines: Females and racial/ethnic minorities (Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Multiracial, Native American/Pacific Islander applicants). Given the prominence of international students in U.S. graduate programs we also examined their presence in pools of GRE scores and nonsubmitters. Analyses were conducted at the overall sample level for applied, admitted, and enrolled students, and also master’s and doctoral programs in five academic disciplines. International students comprised larger portions of GRE score submitters than nonsubmitters among applied, admitted, and enrolled students. Members of racial/ethnic minorities comprised a larger percentage of GRE score nonsubmitters than submitters among applied but not admitted or enrolled students. Additionally, the 95% confidence intervals for female score submitters and non-submitters overlapped. More fine-grained analyses revealed additional differences: Racial/ethnic minority applicants were less likely to submit scores to humanities master’s, and STEM doctoral, programs. International applicants were more likely to submit scores to social sciences, nursing, and STEM master’s, and humanities and STEM doctoral, programs. Confidence intervals overlapped for all other comparisons. Descriptive trends varied across demographic groups, disciplines, and degree levels. Our results suggest that GRE-optional policies are neither a panacea nor a poison for graduate program diversity and that the effects of these policies need to be considered at fine-grained levels of analysis (e.g., academic discipline, degree level).
This study examines a diverse set of nearly 100 private institutions that adopted test-optional undergraduate admissions policies between 2005–2006 and 2015–2016. Using comparative interrupted time series analysis and difference-in-differences with matching, I find that test-optional policies were associated with a 3% to 4% increase in Pell Grant recipients, a 10% to 12% increase in first-time students from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds, and a 6% to 8% increase in first-time enrollment of women. Overall, I do not detect clear evidence of changes in application volume or yield rate. Subgroup analyses suggest that these patterns were generally similar for both the more selective and the less selective institutions examined. These findings provide evidence regarding the potential—and the limitations—of using test-optional policies to improve equity in admissions.
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