since the onset of the pandemic, fewer students than ever before have been submitting their scores in the SAT and ACT, two standardised tests used for admission to American universities. Their backers say the tests are vital, if imperfect, tools for admissions officers. Critics have long said the tests exacerbate inequalities between rich students (who can pay for tutoring) and their poorer peers. As covid-19 forced some testing centres to close, a number of universities made the tests optional—accelerating a trend that has been under way since the early 2000s (see chart). This change alone, however, is unlikely to make the admissions process much fairer for disadvantaged students.

Prospective students for the coming academic year will have until April to complete their college applications. But the deadlines for many of the most competitive universities have already passed. Data from the Common Application portal, a standardised form used by more than 900 colleges, show students who had already submitted their scores by January 17th were much more likely to be rich, and white or Asian, than in previous years. In fact, the gap between rich and poor students has more than tripled. In 2019, 73% of students whose application fees had been waived (a proxy for low income) submitted test scores compared with 78% of those without a waiver. By early 2022, only 36% of poor students and 53% of richer ones had sent in their scores. Black, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander students are now 27% less likely than their white and Asian peers to submit test scores. And students who would be the first in their family to go to university are 35% less likely to submit scores than those who have at least one parent with a college degree.

Students who do not submit standardised-test results, however, will not necessarily lose out on university places for that reason. In 2018 the average Asian student who took the ACT scored around the 74th percentile—roughly ten percentiles higher than the average white student and about 40 percentiles higher than the average black student. Not submitting their test results might therefore improve the chances of under-represented students with lower scores. The number of applications through the Common Application portal from under-represented minorities and first-generation students rose by 16% and 20% respectively in 2021-22 compared with 2019-20. That suggests that optional tests might help boost applications from those students.

Yet changes in the applicant pool may not determine who, in the end, goes to university. Several studies since the 1990s have shown that making the tests optional or banning them altogether has little effect on the composition of the student body. Poor children are more likely to attend under-resourced schools that have fewer teachers and larger classes. These are also big contributors to educational inequality.

America’s college-admissions process is notoriously opaque. For selective universities (those admitting under 50% of applicants) most students still report standardised-test scores: “test-optional” policies might therefore be a misnomer. Other aspects of applications, including essays and a consideration of extracurricular activities, create even more potential for bias. If they are serious about improving access for those who have long been squeezed out, universities will need to do more than make the submission of SAT and ACT scores voluntary. Until then, wealthier students will continue to have the advantage. ■

For a look behind the scenes of our data journalism, sign up to Off the Charts, our weekly newsletter.