UT-Austin Waives ACT, SAT Scores For Fall 2021 Semester

AUSTIN, TX — High school students who apply to The University of Texas at Austin for fall 2021 undergraduate admission will not be required to submit an ACT or SAT test score as part of their application, school officials announced Tuesday.

This change will allow the university to better serve potential students by ensuring that testing limitations related to COVID-19 do not affect a student’s ability to apply, officials said.

According to an advisory, the university has been evaluating the impact on students of the cancellation of spring ACT and SAT test dates for some time. Tests have been canceled, and it is expected that future in-person testing opportunities will be limited as a result of mandated social distancing requirements, officials found. As such, the university has determined that suspending this requirement for fall 2021 is necessary.

The upshot: This temporary suspension means that for fall 2021 admission, a test score will not be required for students to apply to, and be fully considered for, admission to UT Austin.

“This is a student-centered decision," Miguel Wasielewski, executive director of admissions, said in a prepared statement. "During this time of uncertainty for students and high schools, we are focused on working with students to support their next steps toward college. Suspending this requirement ensures that students have the information they need to complete their application for admission.”

Noting that UT-Austin is strongly committed to student access and success, officials said the university’s holistic review process considers a number of factors to support student access and success. Student ACT or SAT scores provide the university additional information that, when considered alongside many other factors, allows UT Austin to ensure it can effectively support the student success outcomes of admitted and enrolling students.

Students may continue to submit standardized scores from their SAT and/or ACT tests for consideration within the holistic review process, officials stressed, but they will not be required to do so. Submission or exclusion of test scores will not advantage or disadvantage an applicant, officials added. Rather, they added, ACT or SAT test scores, when provided, will continue to serve as just one of the many factors considered in our review of a student’s application.

The test requirement will be reinstated for fall 2022 freshman admission, according to an advisory. Should there be continued disruption to standardized testing accessibility, officials said the university will evaluate further modifications at that time.