An NPR member station
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

EWU Joins Other Universities In Going "Test Optional"

Eastern Washington University

Eastern Washington University has become the latest college to drop the entrance exam requirement for its applicants.

For years, if you wanted to go to college in the U.S., taking the SAT or the ACT was pretty much mandatory. Not any more.

“More and more institutions are beginning to realize that tests don’t always measure the things that they purport to measure. There are more accurate and less stressful ways to help students enter college," said Jens Larson, EWU’s associate vice president for enrollment management.

He says Eastern is now looking more at what students accomplish during their time in high school. Do they take tough courses? Have they shown progress? And he says students in families with lower incomes appreciate not having to fork over $50 or more for each test.

“So, for students who don’t have access to testing resources, test prep, it’s a relief to know they’re going to be compared on what they’ve been able to demonstrate in the classroom, not what they’re able to do in a two-hour window of time," Larson said.

Eastern joins Gonzaga among local universities that have recently gone test optional.