Harvard Extends Test-Optional Admissions Policy for Four Years

The university joins many others that have eliminated the ACT and SAT requirements, adding fuel to the movement to get rid of standardized test scores.

Harvard will not require SAT or ACT scores for admission through the next four years, extending a policy adopted during the coronavirus pandemic and adding fuel to the movement to permanently eliminate standardized test scores for admission to even the nation’s most selective schools.

Harvard attributed the move, announced on Thursday evening, to the pandemic, which has made it hard for students to get access to testing sites.

But the decision has strong symbolic value, as it telegraphs that Harvard believes it can wade through thousands of applications and admit students without the aid of standardized test scores. It also signals that the university — and perhaps the nation — is one step closer to abolishing test scores from the admissions process altogether.