Following a nationwide trend, Penn State will continue offering test-optional admission to prospective undergraduate students.

The university’s test-optional application policy will continue through the fall 2025 admissions cycle, Penn State said last week. The extended accommodation allows prospective undergraduate students to file admissions applications without submitting their SAT or ACT standardized test scores.

Like many schools, Penn State implemented a test-optional admissions process to ease requirements for students who couldn’t complete standardized tests during the coronavirus pandemic’s earliest days. Now, the continuation is expected to promote accessible admissions for prospective students.

“One intent of an extension is to continue the standardized testing relief to students. There was already anxiety about tests before the pandemic. COVID-19 added even more stressors and changed college admissions,” Rob Springall, Penn State’s assistant vice president for enrollment management and executive director of undergraduate admissions, said in a statement. “Two more years will also give Penn State the benefit of time to see what has permanently changed and how we can do our work even better. We are making this announcement now so current high school juniors and sophomores can make their college application and testing plans.”

More than half of Penn State’s undergraduate applicants filed without using their SAT or ACT scores since test-optional admission launched in June 2020, the university said. A successful roll-out prompted Penn State to extend its test-optional policy in January 2021 before doubling down yet again this year.

Penn State is far from the first big-name institution to implement test-optional admissions since the pandemic began.

The university’s 13 peer institutions in the Big Ten conference, including Ohio State, Michigan and even Northwestern, the league’s lone private school, will waive requirements for SAT and ACT score submissions in 2023.

Of Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities, Penn State, Temple and Pitt do not require test score submissions for undergraduate applicants.

Test-optional admissions remain quite common outside of Penn State’s peers, according to data published by the Common App, a nonprofit undergraduate admissions application that represents more than 1,000 schools across the U.S.

Approximately 55% of Common App member institutions required applicants to submit standardized test scores during the pre-pandemic 2019-20 admissions cycle, according to the nonprofit’s most recent report. Today, just 4% of member institutions require test score submissions.

Score submission trends vary significantly between demographics, the Common App said. Underrepresented minority students (35% submission rate) were far less likely to submit test scores than non-minority students (49%) during the 2022-23 admissions cycle, the nonprofit’s January report said. First-generation college students (33%) were also less likely to submit scores than continuing-generation students (51%).

Registration fees have long been viewed as a significant barrier to standardized testing.

If scores are optional, why submit them?

While applicants are often no longer required to submit standardized test scores, a good grade can make a difference in the admissions process.

Generally, submitted SAT and ACT test scores give admissions committees another benchmark to consider when evaluating a prospective student. A strong result can significantly boost the chances of receiving an offer of admission.