Impact of Optional

Name: Impact of Optional
Published: 2020-07-31
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Joseph Paris, Temple University; Benjamin Torsney, Temple University; Sara Fiorot, Temple University; Catherine Pressimone Beckowski, Temple University

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Test Optional Institution Dataset 200422.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	1.6 MB	07/31/2020 07:52:AM

Project Citation:

Paris, Joseph, Torsney, Benjamin, Fiorot, Sara, and Pressimone Beckowski, Catherine. Impact of Optional. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2020-07-31. https://doi.org/10.3886/E120481V1

Project Description

Summary: An increasing number of postsecondary institutions have introduced test-optional admissions policies primarily due to criticism of standardized admissions tests as potentially biased predictors of student success. However, the impact of the test-optional movement is largely unknown. This study uses a quasi-experimental design and repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to examine the effects of test-optional policy implementation on institutional desirability, admissions selectivity, and the racial and socioeconomic diversity of the student body. Findings demonstrate that test-optional policy implementation results in enhanced institutional desirability (i.e., increased applications received) and socioeconomic diversity (i.e., increased proportion of Pell Grant recipients).

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: test-optional admission

Geographic Coverage: United States

Time Period(s): 2001 – 2018

Collection Date(s): 3/10/2020 – 4/22/2020

Universe: Participants included 798 (n = 171, test-optional and n = 627, test-requiring) four-year, degree-granting, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)-submitting, public and private not-for-profit institutions in the United States.

Data Type(s): administrative records data; census/enumeration data

Methodology

Sampling: The test-optional institutions included in this study were drawn from FairTest’s list of the “380+ ‘Top Tier’ Schools that Deemphasize the ACT/SAT in Admissions Decisions per U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Guide (2020 Edition).” As of December 7, 2019, this list included 369 public, private non-profit, and private for-profit institutions that implemented test-optional or test-flexible admissions policies and were ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the “Best Colleges and Universities” for 2020. Despite inclusion on FairTest’s list, we excluded 197 test-optional institutions from the study that did not report a change in admissions test score consideration to IPEDS between 2003 and 2016.

Data Source: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

Unit(s) of Observation: Institutions

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Published Versions

V1 [2020-07-31]

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