Columbia Admits SAT Scores Are ‘Useful Indicator’ Of Student Ability, Reinstates Mandatory Test Policy

Interesting columbia university, covid response, ivy league, standardized testing, yale university admin June 13, 2026 0 Comments

Columbia Admits SAT Scores Are ‘Useful Indicator’ Of Student Ability, Reinstates Mandatory Test Policy

The last Ivy League college holding out on the COVID-era standardized test-optional policy caved Friday when Columbia University announced that, after a multi-year review, it recognized test scores as a “useful indicator” of student abilities.

Columbia scrapped its previously permanent test-optional policy and reinstated mandatory test scores (SAT/ACT) from all students applying to Columbia College or Columbia Engineering. The updated policy will take effect in August 2027, according to the Ivy League institution.

First-year or transfer students applying to Columbia’s Barnard College or the School of General Studies, which includes non-traditional students in dual degree programs or those with interrupted studies, are not required to submit test scores. (RELATED: University Set To Charge Students Nearly Six Figures Per Year)

Columbia announced a test-optional policy in 2020 after COVID-19, becoming the second Ivy to do so. It extended the optional admissions policy in 2023 “with no stated end date,” according to the Office of Public Affairs. “Through a multi-year faculty review, it was determined that test scores, among other factors, were a useful indicator of potential student success,” the college wrote Friday.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 06: A woman wearing a mask walks near a COVID-19 related instructional ‘attention’ sign at Columbia University as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on August 06, 2020 in New York City. The fourth phase allows outdoor arts and entertainment, sporting events without fans and media production. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Columbia’s admissions page notes that standardized test scores are “one of many elements” used to evaluate applicants. “Our process is purposeful, considering individual circumstances and opportunity in order to best determine an applicant’s suitability for admission and ability to thrive in and contribute to our curriculum and our community,” the website notes.

Columbia is the last of the Ivies to abandon its test-optional policies. All eight have returned to mandatory testing, with Princeton implementing its policy change for the 2027-2028 admissions cycle. Yale was the latest Ivy to announce its policy change in late May.

Columbia’s switch follows a broader return among educators to standardized forms of evaluating student applicants. A May open letter written by STEM faculty at the University of California (UC) pleaded with administrators to reimplement mandatory mathematical standardized testing, after professors warned of “preparation gaps so severe that instructors must re-teach middle school mathematics.”

The letter has now reached nearly 1,500 signatures, including seven of the nine UC mathematical department chairs. (RELATED: ‘Fail Our Children’: New Data Shows Just How Badly Student Learning Suffered As Schools Doubled Down On DEI)

Columbia University did not respond immediately to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.