In late May 2026, Yale University Admissions announced an update to its standardized testing policy. Starting in the 2026-2027 application cycle, all first-year applicants will be required to submit either an ACT or SAT score, and AP/IB scores cannot be substituted to meet this testing requirement. This policy change reverses the test-optional and test-flexible policies that have been in place at Yale for the last six years.
Yale’s New Standardized Testing Requirement
Why did Yale make this change? The 2020 decision to remove the standardized testing requirement was motivated by testing center shutdowns and in the interest of student safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. In late 2025, Yale’s president, Maurie McInnis, established a council to evaluate admissions practices, a task which included investigating the predictive nature of standardized testing as an indicator of academic success of students who matriculate to Yale.
The research found that indeed, standardized testing is strongly predictive of future academic success at the University. Furthermore, the council suggested that standardized testing is less likely to be subject to bias, making it a particularly useful evaluative tool in the holistic review process. Yale researchers also found that evaluating applications without standardized testing disadvantaged applicants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, since application reviewers weighed other application components more heavily.
Trending in the Same Direction
This reversion to pre-pandemic testing policies is not unique to Yale. Rather, Yale’s move aligns with similar decisions made by its peer institutions in the Ivy League. In the face of data supporting the predictive utility of standardized testing in gauging academic success, over the last several admissions cycles, Harvard, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, and UPenn have reinstated standardized testing requirements.
Though the test optional policy will remain at Columbia and Princeton for the 2026-2027 application cycle, both schools have announced that they will require applicants to submit ACT or SAT scores starting next year. This means that rising high school juniors wishing to enroll in the fall of 2028 will be required to submit testing.
Backlash Against Test-Optional
Test-optional policies have increasingly faced backlash from faculty members at top colleges. In response to finding that many students enrolled in college classes are underprepared to tackle the work necessary to achieve their academic goals, the UC system’s faculty is pushing back. As of late June 2026, over 2,200 UC system faculty members, including more than 55 STEM department chairs, have signed an open letter to the UC Board of Regents asking the UC system to reinstate a standardized testing requirement. Of particular concern is students’ under-preparedness in math. The letter states, “basic mathematical fluency is analogous to literacy; without it, success in university-level STEM becomes structurally unattainable for students. We now observe preparation gaps so severe that instructors must reteach middle-school mathematics.”
The issue of academic preparation runs alongside the problem of high school grade inflation. As reported by ACT, in the 12 years from 2010-2022, the average high school GPA increased from 3.02 to 3.32 in math. In absence of a reliable, standardized grading metric across high schools, and in the face of eroding trust in the high school GPA, the ACT and SAT carry even more weight in helping admissions officers to gauge a student’s academic preparation.
What This Means for Future Applicants
Whether submission of standardized testing is optional or required, the reality is that students who submit testing generally have an advantage in selective college admissions. Data shows that students who submit testing are admitted to highly selective schools at significantly higher rates than those who do not submit testing. This pattern is explained in a Dartmouth report written by a working group of professors who researched standardized testing policy and outcomes for Dartmouth undergraduates.
At highly selective colleges like those in the Ivy League, the vast majority of students submit scores even if it is optional to do so. At Yale, for instance, more than 80% of applicants submitted testing over the last two years, and 92% of the class starting at Yale this coming fall submitted. Regardless of the official policy, it’s typically a good idea to submit a standardized test score, unless the student falls towards the bottom of, or below, the published mid-50% range for admitted students at a particular college. At Top Tier Admissions, our Senior Private Counselors can create a testing plan for your student, as well as provide advice about whether or not to submit testing to a particular college of interest.
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Final Thoughts
Six years ago, in the midst of the pandemic, it seemed possible that standardized testing as a component of the holistic admissions process could become a thing of the past. In 2026, it’s clear that standardized test scores still carry significant weight. As the implications of removing the standardized testing requirement on actual college performance become clear, many selective colleges have returned to pre-pandemic policies. At Top Tier Admissions, we help families build a strategic testing and application timeline, guiding students towards successful admissions results at a wide range of top colleges. If you’re interested in learning more, please reach out to our Enrollment team to schedule a conversation.
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