The decision comes after the university switched to test-optional admissions during the pandemic.
The University of Texas at Austin will once again require applicants to submit standardized test scores, beginning with applications to enroll in the fall of 2025.
Critics of testing requirements have said they give students from affluent families an unfair advantage because they can access test prep to improve their scores. Still, a growing number of universities are reversing their test-optional admission policies, including Brown, Yale, Dartmouth and Georgetown.
“Our experience during the test-optional period reinforced that standardized testing is a valuable tool for deciding who is admitted and making sure those students are placed in majors that are the best fit,” Hartzell said in athat the standardized test scores would be particularly relevant when placing students in more challenging courses of study, such as engineering and business.
“It doesn’t align with everything I know about the design of the test, the purpose of the test and the information that it gives,” Bello said. “To be using the SATs to determine what major you can qualify for is as valid as using performance in Mario Kart.”