The impact of standardized test requirements suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic on undergraduate admission process, performance and applicant profile at non-profit, four-year private, mid-size, semi-selective colleges and universities

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, the long-standing mandatory requirement for standardized tests in higher education undergraduate admission has slowly lost ground to test-optional policies. However, in the first year of the global pandemic, American colleges and universities transitioned from mandatory to optional standardized test policies at a significantly greater rate than in the previous two decades. This study sought to identify the impact of suspended standardized tests on other admission criteria, processes, and performance measures for institutions forced to make this policy change due to the pandemic. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-method research design, a quantitative survey was used to address these questions. Qualitative interviews, guided by a conceptual framework of change management, were conducted to explore the degree to which pandemic-related changes transformed admissions. Results showed that high school grade point average and transcripts were used significantly more than any other application factor in response to suspended standardized tests and that this shift was taking place prior to the pandemic. A corresponding decrease in the use of standardized tests had also begun prior to the pandemic. As a result, admission processes for study participants were minimally impacted. Results also showed that study participants outperformed national trends in admission and enrollment of underrepresented minority students. Institutional mission and goals for access and diversity were credited for this outcome rather than policy change. Participants deemed the pandemic a catalyst rather than a reason for inevitable change. Transformative change in admissions was guided by existing institutional governance structure and implemented in accordance with sound change management principles. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)