K-College Adopts “Test Optional” Beginning With 2016 School Year

Kalamazoo College is joining a growing list of colleges and universities which will no longer require ACT or SAT standardized test scores to be part of a prospective student’s application. At K, the change begins with students applying for enrollment in fall 2016.

The change makes K part of a growing trend in higher education called “test optional”
admission. More than 800 colleges and universities in the country admit students without regard to test scores, including a substantial number of highly-ranked national liberal arts colleges. Kalamazoo College would be the first elite liberal arts college in Michigan to join the movement.

“Admission to K always has been—and will continue to be—very selective,” says Dean of
Admission and Financial Aid Eric Staab. “Admission is determined by various factors that
express a student’s qualities and abilities and likelihood to thrive at K,” he added.
According to Staab, these factors include high school grade point average, academic rigor of the high school curriculum, the application essay, participation in co-curricular activities, and letters of recommendation.

“Students may continue to submit test scores as additional information,” said Staab, “but for students applying to enroll at K in 2016, test scores will no longer impact the admission
decision.” Studies show that standardized test scores have little broad predictive value for undergraduate success. A two-year study by Kalamazoo College supports that finding. The study, completed by faculty and staff members serving on K’s Admission and Financial Aid Committee (AFAC), looked at data from the four classes that matriculated to K from 2009 through 2012 for correlations between academic performance at K and the admission factors, including standardized test scores.

According to Staab, high school GPA was the best and most consistent predictor of academic performance at K across race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic categories. Scores on standardized tests tend to correlate with family income and may say more about an applicant’s economic advantages — or disadvantages — than about academic potential.

Source: Kalamazoo College release