Ten years after George Washington University (GW) adopted a test-optional admissions policy, officials and experts affirm that this approach has contributed to a more diverse applicant pool and improved graduation rates for low-income students.
In 2015, the University announced its decision to implement this policy for standardized admissions tests. The initiative aimed to attract underrepresented groups, such as first-generation college students and racial minorities, despite skepticism from some experts. Critics expressed concerns about persistent barriers, like high tuition costs, that still affect marginalized students’ ability to apply.
However, data gathered in the years since indicate that the shift away from mandatory test scores has indeed increased first-generation student enrollment at GW and also led to higher graduation rates among low-income students. University Spokesperson Claire Sabin remarked that this decision was a key element of a broader strategy focused on enhancing the success of lower-income students at GW.
Sabin explained that the policy was designed to provide students with exceptional high school records an equitable chance at admission, even when their test scores fell below those of other candidates. She noted that research indicates a significant correlation between test scores and family income, which often disadvantages lower-income applicants.
When GW first implemented its test-optional policy in 2015, it joined Brandeis and Wake Forest as one of a few top research universities in the U.S. not requiring standardized test scores for admission, as reported by the Washington Post. Since then, the number of colleges and universities adopting test-optional policies has surged from over 850 in 2015 to more than 2,000 by 2025, according to Fairtest and the New York Times.
The University formed a task force on access and success in January 2014, responding to requests from then-President Barack Obama to enhance higher education opportunities for low-income students. Following recommendations from this task force, GW transitioned to the test-optional policy, which suggested that college success could be effectively evaluated through alternative measures, such as high school GPAs.
Sabin reported that within a year of implementing the test-optional approach, applications from first-generation students surged by nearly 1,100, leading to a 14 percent increase in first-generation student enrollment from 2015 to 2016. By 2023, first-generation students constituted 14 percent of GW’s student population, up from 11.9 percent in 2015, according to official University statistics.
Additionally, the percentage of students receiving Pell grants climbed from 13.8 percent in 2015 to approximately 15 percent in 2016, and this upward trend persisted, with 21 percent of GW students now Pell-eligible as of 2025. Data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System indicated that as of 2023, 16 percent of all undergraduate students seeking degrees or certificates at GW were recipients of Pell grants.
Sabin highlighted that the test-optional policy has enabled the University to identify students more likely to be well-prepared for success at GW while fostering greater equity among applicants, though she did not provide specific details on how this was accomplished. She shared that before the policy took effect in 2015, the overall graduation rate at GW was 83.7 percent, with a figure of just 77.7 percent for Pell-eligible students. In contrast, following the implementation of the test-optional policy, the overall graduation rate rose slightly to 84.05 percent, with the rate for Pell-eligible students climbing to 84.6 percent by 2025.
According to Sabin, the test-optional policy, along with investments in financial aid and programs initiated by the Office of Student Success (OSS), is instrumental in closing the graduation rate gap. The OSS has introduced faculty student feedback forms to help identify students who may be struggling academically, connecting them with advisors, the Academic Commons, and other resources.
In 2015, the median high school GPA of incoming GW students was 3.64. This figure increased to 3.66 in 2016, while 21 percent of students applied under the test-optional policy. By 2024, the average GPA remained at 3.66, yet 64 percent of applicants chose to apply without submitting standardized test scores, as per the University’s annual enrollment update.
A study published in 2020 indicated that high school GPAs are five times more effective at predicting college graduation rates compared to ACT scores, which often fluctuate based on students’ diverse backgrounds. The research suggested that GPAs account for a broader range of skills than standardized tests.
Brianna Felegi, an assistant professor of economics at Virginia Tech, stated in her research that the adoption of test-optional policies correlates with a rise in the number of applicants eligible for Pell grants and increased representation from racial minorities among applicants. She noted that in 2014, GW’s student body consisted of 2,227 Black students, 1,603 Hispanic students, 61 Native American students, and 13,430 White students. By 2024, the numbers had increased to 2,699 Black students and 2,647 Hispanic students, while the number of Native American students declined to 31, and White student enrollment fell to 10,749, according to University enrollment data.
The trends observed at GW contrast sharply with national data from 2012 to 2022, in which enrollment rates for Black students have plateaued and the number of White, Hispanic, and Native American students has seen a decline, according to findings from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Felegi expressed that the outcomes at GW support the viewpoint that institutions adopting test-optional policies in recent years have aimed to enhance diversity within their student populations. Furthermore, she indicated that there have been no significant changes in quality measures of student performance, such as retention or graduation rates, following the implementation of these policies.
Felegi pointed out that some universities are moving back to test-mandatory policies post-COVID-19 not as part of a broader trend but rather based on individual assessments of their circumstances. For instance, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reinstated its test-mandatory policy in 2022 after first adopting a test-optional stance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. MIT officials articulated that standardized test scores, in their view, serve as reliable indicators of academic success and are beneficial to disadvantaged students who may lack access to advanced coursework.
In contrast, Felegi believes GW’s decision to implement a test-optional policy stemmed from an internal evaluation rather than pandemic-related pressures.
John Friedman, a professor of economics and international and public affairs at Brown University, highlighted that schools could potentially lose effective predictors of college success when eliminating requirements for standardized test scores. His research revealed that at highly competitive Ivy-Plus universities—excluding GW—students admitted without test scores generally achieve grades comparable to those with the lowest 10 percent of submitted test scores.
According to Friedman, standardized test scores act as superior predictors of academic performance relative to high school GPAs or alternative metrics. He argues that these scores are not biased against students from lower-income backgrounds, suggesting that students who obtain similar test scores demonstrate similar academic abilities regardless of their economic status.
Conversely, Bruce Sacerdote, an economics professor at Dartmouth University, countered the benefits of test-optional policies, asserting that they can disadvantage low-income applicants. Sacerdote’s research suggests that many low-income students may choose not to submit scores, which could detract from their admission chances due to unfounded fears that their scores will harm their applications. He claims that, across various demographics studied, standardized test scores were effective in identifying high-achieving students from diverse backgrounds.
Sacerdote also argued that standardized test scores are more reliable indicators of academic success compared to other metrics, as demonstrated in research conducted at Dartmouth University.
As GW reflects on a decade of the test-optional policy, the University continues to evaluate its impact on diversity, graduation rates, and overall student success against a backdrop of varying viewpoints on the efficacy of standardized testing in higher education.
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