As of October 2026. Every number below is sourced; the list is at the end.
As of October 2026, 101 four-year colleges require an SAT or ACT score. Our Reach database holds 1,396 that report a policy. Of those, 1,263 are test-optional. Another 32 do not look at scores at all. That group includes every UC and CSU campus. So a hard rule is rare. It also sits at many of the schools families want most.
The comfortable belief
Every parent I talk to thinks the SAT and ACT went away in the pandemic. They think the tests never came back. For most of the list, that is close to true. Those 1,263 test-optional colleges will read your student's file with no score on it. Check any school on our test score policy pages.
Then you look at where your kid wants to go.
23 colleges changed their minds
23 well-known colleges brought the test rule back. Each one studied its own test-optional years first. Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Yale, Caltech and UT Austin are on that list. So are Penn, Johns Hopkins, Brown and Dartmouth. Cornell's rule starts for fall 2026.
They did not guess. UT Austin looked at its own first-year students. The ones who sent scores earned a first-semester GPA 0.86 points higher. Dartmouth's 2024 faculty study found something sadder. Students from schools with fewer resources were hiding scores around 1400 points. A selective college would have read that score against their own high school.
The score was help. They hid it.
The other reason they give is grade inflation. ACT looked at its own test takers. Their average high school GPA rose from 3.22 in 2010 to 3.39 in 2021 as ACT scores fell. Nearly 55 percent carried an A average by 2021, up from about 47 percent in 2010.
Yale's admissions page says it plainly. Every first-year and transfer student must send ACT or SAT scores. On the ACT, Yale asks for English, Math, Reading and the Composite. Science and Writing stay optional.
Beyond the Ivy League
Georgetown, Georgia Tech, the University of Florida and West Point all require a score. Each one says so on its own admissions page. Watch Princeton as well. It is test-optional for fall 2026 and fall 2027 entry. Then it requires a score for fall 2028.
Optional does not mean ignored
This is the part that costs families the most. It is why we wrote up whether test scores still matter. A good score still moves the file at a test-optional college.
In fall 2023, 24 percent of applicants to Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences sent a score. Among admitted students, 50 percent had one. Work those shares out. A submitter was 3.2 times more likely to get in. Cornell published that, then brought the rule back.
Where the 1,396 colleges land
| Policy | Colleges | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Score required | 101 | No score, no application |
| Test-optional | 1,263 | You choose; a score still helps |
| Scores not considered | 32 | Every UC and CSU campus |
California is the exception, for now
UC and CSU are test-blind. Students who apply for fall 2027 will not send scores. If a California public is the whole plan, your student can skip the SAT and ACT.
Most families do not have that plan. UC's Academic Senate has asked its admissions board for a fast review. A report is due February 12, 2027, and advice goes to the Regents by June 2027. UC has not decided about fall 2028 or later.
Nobody should build a four-year plan on a policy under review.
The move
Pull up your student's college list this month, and check each college's own admissions page for its test policy. If even one school requires or rewards a score, plan 6 to 12 weeks of prep before the sitting you pick. Prepare for the whole SAT or ACT, never one section. Start with the free mock SAT and ACT at prepgurus.com/take-the-next-step. Or call us at 949.229.5359 and we will tell you which exam fits your kid.
Questions parents ask
Does my child still need to take the SAT or ACT?
If any college on the list requires or rewards a score, yes. 101 of the 1,396 four-year colleges that report a policy require one. And 23 well-known colleges have brought a requirement back, among them Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Yale, Caltech and UT Austin.
If a college is test-optional, is sending a score pointless?
No. At Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences in fall 2023, 24 percent of applicants sent a score. Among admitted students, 50 percent had one. Work those shares out and a submitter was 3.2 times more likely to get in.
Do the UCs and Cal States look at test scores?
Not today. Every UC and CSU campus is among the 32 colleges that do not look at scores, and students applying for fall 2027 will not send them. UC's Academic Senate is reviewing that, with a report due February 12, 2027.
Why are colleges bringing the SAT and ACT back?
The reason they give is grade inflation. ACT found that the average high school GPA of its test takers rose from 3.22 in 2010 to 3.39 in 2021, while the average ACT score fell. By 2021, nearly 55 percent of those graduates carried an A average, up from about 47 percent in 2010.
Written by Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus. Updated October 2026.
Sources
- Reach — Do test scores still matter?
- Reach — college test score policies
- Yale Undergraduate Admissions — standardized testing policy
- Cornell Office of Institutional Research and Planning, Test Score Task Force (via Reach)
- University of California — Statement from UC Academic Senate Chair Ahmet Palazoglu on BOARS undergraduate admissions review (states the February 12, 2027 report date and recommendations to the Regents no later than June 2027)
- University of Pennsylvania — testing (required for the 2026-27 application cycle)
- Johns Hopkins University — standardized testing (required for fall 2026 entry and beyond)
- Brown University — standardized tests (required beginning with the 2024-25 admission cycle)
- Dartmouth College — testing guidelines (required beginning with applicants to the Class of 2029)
- Georgetown University — first-year application requirements (SAT or ACT required)
- Georgia Institute of Technology — standardized tests (all first-year applicants must submit at least one SAT and/or ACT)
- University of Florida — first-year requirements (all applicants must submit SAT, ACT or CLT scores)
- United States Military Academy at West Point — steps to admission (SAT, ACT or CLT required)
- Princeton University — application checklist (test-optional for fall 2026 and fall 2027 entry; testing required for fall 2028 entry)
- ACT Research — Grade Inflation Continues to Grow in the Past Decade, May 2022
- Test Prep Gurus — testing-plan guidance, IUSD College Fair deck, October 2026
- Test Prep Gurus — free diagnostic SAT and ACT — https://www.prepgurus.com/frequently-asked-questions