As of October 2026. Every number below is sourced; the list is at the end.
As of October 2026, UT Austin requires an SAT or ACT score again, so there is no opting out. Among the first-years who enrolled and sent an SAT, the middle half scored 1230 to 1490. On the ACT the middle half ran 27 to 33 (IPEDS, 2023).
The belief: there is one magic number
Almost every parent who calls me about UT wants a cutoff. One number, so they know whether to bother. I understand the wish. UT does not publish a cutoff, and no cutoff exists.
What exists is a band. A band is not a bar.
What UT's own numbers say
UT read 66,109 applications and admitted 29.1 percent of them (IPEDS, 2023). Of the first-years who enrolled, 63 percent had sent an SAT and 20 percent had sent an ACT. You can see the full profile on UT Austin's page on Reach.
| Exam | Middle half of enrolled first-years who submitted it |
|---|---|
| SAT | 1230 to 1490 |
| ACT | 27 to 33 |
Read that header twice. Those bands describe students who enrolled and who submitted that exam. They are not admitted-student numbers, and they are not a passing grade. A middle half also means a quarter of enrolled submitters came in under 1230 and a quarter came in over 1490.
So prepare toward the top of the band, not the bottom of it. A 1230 is the number a quarter of the class already beat.
There is no average GPA to aim at
UT publishes no average high school GPA. Its own Common Data Set leaves that line blank for 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 while other sections are filled in. If someone hands you a UT GPA average, they got it from an aggregator that made it up.
Your child's transcript still counts. There is just no published number to chase, and I would rather tell you that than guess.
Class rank is a separate door
Texas law gives students in the top slice of their Texas public high school class automatic admission to a state university, and UT announces its own rank cutoff for each entering class on its admissions site. That door turns on rank, not on a score. It does not cancel the score requirement, and it does nothing for a family outside Texas. If you want to see how Texas high schools actually place students, start with Reach's Texas page.
Why UT brought the requirement back
UT looked at its own students and found that score submitters earned a first-semester GPA 0.86 points higher. That finding is why the requirement is back. UT is one of 23 well-known colleges that reinstated a testing requirement after studying their own test-optional results.
Required is still the small group. Across the 1,396 four-year colleges in Reach's database that report a policy, 1,263 are test-optional, 101 require a score, and 32 do not consider scores at all.
UT is in the 101.
The move
This month, have your child sit one SAT diagnostic and one ACT diagnostic, compare the percentiles, and pick the stronger exam. Then give that exam 6 to 12 weeks of real work on the whole exam, never a single section, with full-length practice tests along the way. We teach 1-on-1 and virtually nationwide, so a family in Austin or Plano works with us the same way a family in Newport Beach does. Both diagnostics are free at prepgurus.com/take-the-next-step, or call 949.229.5359 and we will set them up.
Questions parents ask
Is there a minimum SAT or ACT score to get into UT Austin?
No. UT publishes no cutoff. The middle half of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT scored 1230 to 1490, and on the ACT 27 to 33, which is a band and not a minimum.
What GPA does UT Austin want?
UT does not publish an average high school GPA. Its own Common Data Set leaves that line blank for 2023-24 through 2025-26, so any average you see somewhere else is not from UT.
If my child is automatically admitted by class rank, do we still need a score?
Yes. Automatic admission by rank is a separate door for Texas public high school students, and the SAT or ACT requirement still applies.
Written by Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus. Updated October 2026.
Sources
- High School Reach, UT Austin college profile (test policy, 29.1 percent admit rate, 66,109 applicants, SAT 1230-1490, ACT 27-33, 63 percent SAT and 20 percent ACT submit shares; IPEDS 2023) — https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/the-university-of-texas-at-austin
- High School Reach, Do test scores still matter (UT's 0.86 first-semester GPA finding, the 23 reinstaters, and the 1,396 / 1,263 / 101 / 32 policy counts) — https://highschoolreach.com/research/do-test-scores-still-matter
- High School Reach, Texas high schools — https://highschoolreach.com/texas
- The University of Texas at Austin, Common Data Set archive (average high school GPA left blank, 2023-24 through 2025-26) — https://reports.utexas.edu/common-data-set/pdf
- Test Prep Gurus, Frequently Asked Questions (free SAT and ACT diagnostics, 6 to 12 weeks of prep, full-length practice exams) — https://www.prepgurus.com/frequently-asked-questions