When the University of California decided earlier this year to stop using the ACT and SAT in admissions by 2025, the decision sparked new discussions about how fair and useful college entrance exams are.
Studies have shown that some SAT questions systematically favor white students over Black students of equal ability. Some scholars say wordy math questions in the new SAT, introduced in 2016, create unfair barriers for English language learners. In other standardized tests, some math questions might favor English-speaking students over English language learners of equal mathematical ability.
But a faculty-led report at UC found no clear evidence of racial bias. In fact, the report says sizable numbers of first-generation, low-income and “underrepresented minorities,” such as Black, Hispanic and Native American students, have earned admissions to UC due “solely by virtue of their SAT scores.” A great deal of diversity may be lost if the university were to drop the test.
On the other hand, UC’s student body does not quite reflect California’s diversity. In 2019, only 22% of students who enrolled in UC self identified as Hispanic. But Hispanics, the largest ethnic group in California, make up over 39% of the state’s population. That same year, underrepresented minorities made up 45% of the state’s population, but only 26% of UC’s enrollment.
I have reviewed SAT questions, studied how test questions function for different student groups and authored recommendations for enhancing equity in college outcomes and assessments.
Doing away with the SAT may feel just. But it is a school’s goal and the steps taken to meet it that will determine if doing away with college entrance exams is beneficial or detrimental.
Experts’ suggestions on what might come next range from replacing the tests with evaluations of student portfolios to basing admissions on students’ high school records. Ultimately, a region’s demographics and a college’s purpose must count in admission decisions.
Colleges and universities won’t necessarily become more diverse just because the SAT has become optional. A study of 180 liberal arts colleges found that test-optional policies did not increase the numbers of low-income and minority students.
Such a decision may inadvertently favor privileged students. Say, for example, a college suspends the SAT and increases the weight of essays in admissions. Students with access to parents or advisers who are college graduates may know what types of essays will resonate with an admission committee. Such social and cultural background can still operate as an advantage.
Increasing diversity in college requires being intentional: attracting and engaging student populations that remain underrepresented in colleges and universities.
Some programs are looking to place more value on the culture and language of incoming students. An increasingly diverse workforce better serves an increasingly diverse population.
Differences in how groups of students do on a test need not mean a test is unfair. Yet, in some cases, differences in group outcomes can in fact be due to unintended bias in test questions – that is, bias that unfairly puts particular kinds of students at a disadvantage.
A history of testing in the U.S. shows that the SAT, and our universities, were created at a time when the country’s demographic, social and cultural realities were very different from today. The test was not made by and for today’s America. And likely, it was not designed to build on the strengths of diverse students or avoid deficit views.
Changing admissions requirements is supposed to help make schools more diverse. But doing this will require more than changing tests or doing away with testing requirements. It’s going to require a radical rethinking of higher education based on equity and the strengths and needs of America today.
Guadalupe I. Lozano is director of the Center for University Education Scholarship and associate research professor of mathematics at the University of Arizona. Distributed by The Associated Press.
