Princeton University will mandate SAT or ACT scores for undergraduate admissions starting with the 2027-28 cycle, ending a seven-year test-optional policy launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The revised policy targets students entering in fall 2028, two cycles out.
Harvard, Penn, and Brown reinstated tests for 2024-25 or 2025-26. Yale has gone test-flexible, accepting AP or IB scores too. Cornell, Dartmouth, and others among Princeton’s peers also dropped test-optional stances. Columbia is the only Ivy League school to remain permanently testing-optional.
Princeton’s move stems from data analysis, according to a statement from the University.
“The decision to resume testing requirements follows a review of five years of data from the test-optional period, which found that academic performance at Princeton was stronger for students who chose to submit test scores than for students who did not,” the University said.
The pause began in June 2020 amid COVID-related testing disruptions and was then extended in the succeeding years.
Applicants for fall 2026 and 2027 remain unaffected by the change in policy. About 22% of the Class of 2029 chose not to submit testing scores.
“Standardized testing is just one element of the University’s comprehensive and holistic application review. There are no minimum test score requirements for admission. All information in each student’s application is considered in the student’s individual context,” the news release stated.
Active military will receive an exemption “because lack of regular access to testing facilities and other logistical constraints associated with their service may prevent them from testing at times aligned with Princeton’s application deadlines.”
“Active members of the military who opt to apply to Princeton without an SAT or ACT score will not be at a disadvantage in our process,” the statement added.
FairTest counts over 2,000 U.S. colleges that are still test-optional or test-free post-pandemic, Forbes reported.