Test-Optional Colleges

1064 colleges consider SAT and ACT scores but do not require them. The College Scorecard calls this policy "considered but not required."

College
Type
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State AltoonaAltoona, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State BeaverMonaca, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State BerksReading, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State BrandywineMedia, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State DuBoisDuBois, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend CollegeErie, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State Fayette- EberlyLemont Furnace, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State Greater AlleghenyMcKeesport, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State HarrisburgMiddletown, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State HazletonHazleton, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State Lehigh ValleyCenter Valley, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State Mont AltoMont Alto, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State New KensingtonNew Kensington, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State SchuylkillSchuylkill Haven, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State ScrantonDunmore, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State ShenangoSharon, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State Wilkes-BarreDallas, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-Penn State YorkYork, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania State University-World CampusUniversity Park, PennsylvaniaPublicPennsylvania Western UniversityCalifornia, PennsylvaniaPublicRobert Morris UniversityMoon Township, PennsylvaniaPrivateSaint Francis UniversityLoretto, PennsylvaniaPrivateSaint Joseph's University - LancasterLancaster, PennsylvaniaPrivateSaint Joseph's University - PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPrivateSaint Vincent CollegeLatrobe, PennsylvaniaPrivateSeton Hill UniversityGreensburg, PennsylvaniaPrivateShippensburg University of PennsylvaniaShippensburg, PennsylvaniaPublicSlippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock, PennsylvaniaPublicSusquehanna UniversitySelinsgrove, PennsylvaniaPrivateSwarthmore CollegeSwarthmore, PennsylvaniaPrivateThaddeus Stevens College of TechnologyLancaster, PennsylvaniaPublicThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPrivateUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPrivateUniversity of Pittsburgh-BradfordBradford, PennsylvaniaPublicUniversity of Pittsburgh-GreensburgGreensburg, PennsylvaniaPublicUniversity of Pittsburgh-JohnstownJohnstown, PennsylvaniaPublicUniversity of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh CampusPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPublicUniversity of Pittsburgh-TitusvilleTitusville, PennsylvaniaPublicUniversity of ScrantonScranton, PennsylvaniaPrivateUrsinus CollegeCollegeville, PennsylvaniaPrivateVillanova UniversityVillanova, PennsylvaniaPrivateWaynesburg UniversityWaynesburg, PennsylvaniaPrivateWest Chester University of PennsylvaniaWest Chester, PennsylvaniaPublicWidener UniversityChester, PennsylvaniaPrivateWilkes UniversityWilkes-Barre, PennsylvaniaPrivateWilson CollegeChambersburg, PennsylvaniaPrivateYork College of PennsylvaniaYork, PennsylvaniaPrivateEscuela de Artes Plasticas y Diseno de Puerto RicoSan Juan, Puerto RicoPublicPontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-AreciboArecibo, Puerto RicoPrivatePontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-MayaguezMayaguez, Puerto RicoPrivatePontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-PoncePonce, Puerto RicoPrivateUniversity of Puerto Rico-CarolinaCarolina, Puerto RicoPublicBrown UniversityProvidence, Rhode IslandPrivateBryant UniversitySmithfield, Rhode IslandPrivateJohnson & Wales University-ProvidenceProvidence, Rhode IslandPrivateProvidence CollegeProvidence, Rhode IslandPrivateRhode Island CollegeProvidence, Rhode IslandPublicRhode Island School of DesignProvidence, Rhode IslandPrivateRoger Williams UniversityBristol, Rhode IslandPrivateSalve Regina UniversityNewport, Rhode IslandPrivateUniversity of Rhode IslandKingston, Rhode IslandPublicAmerican College of the Building ArtsCharleston, South CarolinaPrivateAnderson UniversityAnderson, South CarolinaPrivateCharleston Southern UniversityCharleston, South CarolinaPrivateCitadel Military College of South CarolinaCharleston, South CarolinaPublicClemson UniversityClemson, South CarolinaPublicCoastal Carolina UniversityConway, South CarolinaPublicCollege of CharlestonCharleston, South CarolinaPublicColumbia International UniversityColumbia, South CarolinaPrivateConverse UniversitySpartanburg, South CarolinaPrivateFrancis Marion UniversityFlorence, South CarolinaPublicFurman UniversityGreenville, South CarolinaPrivateLander UniversityGreenwood, South CarolinaPublicNorth Greenville UniversityTigerville, South CarolinaPrivatePresbyterian CollegeClinton, South CarolinaPrivateSouthern Wesleyan UniversityCentral, South CarolinaPrivateUniversity of South Carolina AikenAiken, South CarolinaPublicUniversity of South Carolina-ColumbiaColumbia, South CarolinaPublicUniversity of South Carolina-UpstateSpartanburg, South CarolinaPublicWinthrop UniversityRock Hill, South CarolinaPublicWofford CollegeSpartanburg, South CarolinaPrivateAugustana UniversitySioux Falls, South DakotaPrivateBlack Hills State UniversitySpearfish, South DakotaPublicDakota State UniversityMadison, South DakotaPublicKairos UniversitySioux Falls, South DakotaPrivateMount Marty UniversityYankton, South DakotaPrivateNorthern State UniversityAberdeen, South DakotaPublicSouth Dakota School of Mines and TechnologyRapid City, South DakotaPublicSouth Dakota State UniversityBrookings, South DakotaPublicUniversity of South DakotaVermillion, South DakotaPublicAustin Peay State UniversityClarksville, TennesseePublicBelmont UniversityNashville, TennesseePrivateBethel UniversityMcKenzie, TennesseePrivateCarson-Newman UniversityJefferson City, TennesseePrivateChristian Brothers UniversityMemphis, TennesseePrivateEast Tennessee State UniversityJohnson City, TennesseePublicFisk UniversityNashville, TennesseePrivateFreed-Hardeman UniversityHenderson, TennesseePrivateJohnson UniversityKnoxville, TennesseePrivateLee UniversityCleveland, TennesseePrivate

Test policy is College Scorecard field ADMCON7. Value 5 means considered but not required.

Guide

What test-optional means in this file

Test-optional on this page means one Scorecard value. The admissions consideration field, ADMCON7, is 5: the college says it considers SAT or ACT scores, and it does not require them. A different policy, or a blank policy, does not land here.

Policies change, and the Scorecard can lag a decision a college announced last month. Use this list to see the reported policy. Then check the college before you apply. The table sorts by state.

Schools
1,064
States
51
Median admit rate
77%
1,057 report a rate
Median earnings
$56,346
10 years after entry

Considered, but not required

Value 5 is a specific answer. The student may send scores. The college says it will look at them. That is different from a college that requires scores, and different from a college that says it will not consider scores at all.

The page does not read a website banner or a news article. If the Scorecard still says optional, the college stays on this list until the field changes. If the Scorecard says something else, the college is on another list or on none.

The other two answers

Test-required colleges report value 1. Scores are required. Test-blind colleges report value 3. Scores are not considered. Those pages exist so this one can stay narrow.

A blank ADMCON7 field is not optional. The college is simply missing from all three policy pages. Do not read a missing row as a secret fourth policy.

How to use a policy list

This list is large, and the colleges on it do not share a selectivity band. An open-admission college and a college that admits a small share can both say scores are optional. Read the admission rate before you assume the policy tells you how hard entry is.

Sending a score is allowed under this reported policy. Whether a score helps is a question the Scorecard does not answer. The college's own current instructions are the authority for an application in progress.

Why the field lags

Test policy moved quickly at many colleges over the last several years, in both directions. A federal data file is not a live feed. A row here can be right for the Scorecard year and stale for this month's application.

The page also does not know about a temporary pilot, a program-level exception, or a requirement that applies only to home-schooled applicants. Those details are narrower than ADMCON7. They belong on the college's site.

Where the schools are

These schools sit in 51 states. The largest groups are Pennsylvania (97), New York (95), Texas (58), Ohio (51), and Illinois (43). The rest of the roll is spread across the other states in the table.

The full roll has 1,064 schools. The table shows 100 at a time. The page links under the table move through the rest. Page 1 is the canonical address.

Who runs them

By reported control, 646 are private nonprofit, 383 are public, and 35 are private for-profit. A blank control stays out of that split.

Predominant degree is the credential the campus awards most often. On this list it is a bachelor's degree at 1,025 schools, an associate degree at 25 schools, and a certificate at 14 schools. A campus can still award other credentials.

How large they are

The largest undergraduate enrollments on this list are Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona, with 73,371 undergraduates, Texas A&M University-College Station in College Station, Texas, with 59,615 undergraduates, Ohio State University-Main Campus in Columbus, Ohio, with 45,638 undergraduates, Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho, with 44,397 undergraduates, and The University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas, with 42,855 undergraduates. Enrollment is the undergraduate figure. It is not a ranking, and it leaves out graduate students.

3 schools are reported as online-only. The others are not marked that way in this file.

Admission

1,057 of 1,064 schools report an admission rate. The median of those rates is 77%. Schools with no reported rate stay out of the median. A missing rate is not an open door, and it is not a closed one.

The lowest reported admission rates on this list are Stanford University in Stanford, California, at 4%, Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, at 4%, and Columbia University in the City of New York in New York, New York, at 4%. A lower rate is harder entry. It is not a score for the school.

The highest reported admission rates on this list are DeVry University-Georgia in Decatur, Georgia, at 100%, American Islamic College in Chicago, Illinois, at 100%, and Chamberlain University-Indiana in Indianapolis, Indiana, at 100%.

What they charge

Among 380 public colleges that report an in-state sticker price, the median is $10,391. 3 other public colleges on the list do not report one. Among 676 private colleges that report a sticker price, the median is $40,517. 5 other private colleges on the list do not report one.

Sticker price is not net price. Grants, waivers, and a service commitment can move the bill by a wide margin. Open a school for the net-price figures.

Earnings and graduation

Among 1,047 schools that report earnings, the median of those school-level medians is $56,346. The clock starts at entry, not at graduation. The highest reported medians on this list are Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, at $138,687, University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis in Saint Louis, Missouri, at $137,047, and Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Albany, New York, at $131,426.

Among 1,052 schools that report a graduation rate, the median rate is 60%. A blank rate is left out. It is not treated as zero.

Athletics in this file

272 report NCAA Division I athletics, 99 play FBS football, and 97 play FCS football. A blank athletics field means this file has no division for that campus. It does not prove the campus has no team.

Also on other lists

Some of these schools also meet the rule for another list on this site. The overlap is a second flag or a second classification. It is not a second ranking.

115 are also on R1 research universities. 89 are also on R2 research universities. 166 are also on liberal arts colleges. 38 are also on HBCU colleges. 120 are also on Hispanic-serving institutions. 23 are also on women's colleges. 5 are also on men's colleges.

How these figures work

Admission rate, enrollment, sticker price, earnings, and graduation rate all come from the College Scorecard. Earnings are the median 10 years after a student entered the school. Tuition for a public college is the in-state sticker price. Tuition for a private college is the published sticker price. None of these is net price after aid.

A blank field stays blank. This page does not turn a blank admission rate into an open door, a blank fee into a free application, or a blank earnings figure into zero. The table above is membership under the rule in this guide. Sort order is not a quality ranking.

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