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Education News
Dan Kraker
Duluth, Minn.

UMD joins growing list of schools going test-optional

University of Minnesota Duluth
University of Minnesota Duluth campus in Duluth, Minn. Starting in the spring of 2021, students applying to the school will have the choice whether or not to submit an ACT or SAT score as part of their application. 
Bob Kelleher | MPR News 2010

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The University of Minnesota Duluth has joined a growing list of schools in Minnesota and across the country that are no longer requiring students to take a standardized test in order to be considered for admission. 

Beginning with the 2021 spring semester, applicants to UMD will have the choice of whether to submit SAT or ACT scores as part of their materials to be considered for acceptance. 

The university said it had two primary motivations for making the change: to remove a barrier that may deter otherwise qualified students from applying; and to increase enrollment of qualified first-generation, low-income and racially diverse populations.

The University of Minnesota Crookston has also moved to a test-optional model. So have several private schools in the state, including the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, St. Thomas and St. Olaf. 

UMD Associate Vice Chancellor Mary Keenan said about one quarter of applicants at schools that have adopted this approach have chosen not to submit standardized test scores. She said that group includes a significant number of applicants who are students of color, first-generation and low-income.

"The outcomes of this practice encourage more applications from students who maybe have not traditionally pursued higher education. So, that is definitely something we want to promote and encourage," Keenan said. 

She added that UMD and other institutions have found that a student’s high school grades and course record is a much better predictor of success in college than standardized test scores. 

A group of administrators at the University of Minnesota’s Duluth campus, which enrolls more than 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students, has been studying making the shift to a test-optional admission policy for the past several months. 

Ultimately, Keenan said, the university decided to change its approach with an eye toward future demographic trends, which forecast a significant drop in high school graduates in about five years, with an increasing number of prospective applicants who are students of color. 

She said the change will give incoming students more control over how they present their credentials when they apply to UMD. 

“We know that there are qualified students whose ACT score does not reflect their potential,” she said. “And so this is really an invitation to those students to come and be part of our learning community.”