How U.S. News Accounts for Test-Optional Colleges in Our Rankings
The methodology for the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings has long used entering students' test scores as one way of measuring how schools compare in terms of their students' academic prowess.
This reflects the reality that a substantial majority of U.S. colleges and universities accept the ACT or SAT as an indicator of academic quality and require the scores for admissions decisions.
However, some four-year U.S. colleges are test-optional, meaning they do not require first-time, first-year, degree-seeking applicants to submit ACT or SAT scores for the purpose of admissions -- the choice is left up to prospective students. There are other schools that do not use ACT or SAT scores in their admissions process at all.
U.S. News is often asked how we take these schools into account when producing our Best Colleges rankings.
The distinction between test-optional schools and schools that don't factor in test scores at all is important, as U.S. News accounts for such cases differently.
In the case of test-optional schools, our methodology is designed to give test scores less weight if less than 75 percent of an entering class submits ACT or SAT scores. We have chosen to discount these scores because the lack of data for 25 percent of students or more likely means the ACT or SAT score is not representative of the entire class. Many believe that prospective students with lower SAT or ACT scores choose not to have their scores considered under test-optional admissions policies.
If less than 75 percent of an entering class submits ACT or SAT scores, then a school's overall ACT or SAT score is discounted by 15 percent in the ranking calculations. The overall value of the school's score -- whether it has risen or fallen compared with previous years -- is reduced.
The effect of this discount could be that a school's overall ranking in its Best Colleges category is lowered, but that also depends on the numerous other factors that go into our rankings methodology. However, test-optional schools are not automatically given discounted test scores or reduced standing in the rankings.
This discounting is not new; since the 2002 rankings, we have reduced the value of schools' reported scores in our Best Colleges methodology if they don't represent the entire class. The reduced weight is about keeping a balance in the methodology, assuring that U.S. News is ranking all schools in the most fair, comparative way possible.
When schools do not use SAT or ACT scores at all in admissions decisions for first-time, first-year, degree-seeking applicants, U.S. News does not rank them. Their data are listed separately on usnews.com, so that students can still access their information as they conduct their research.
Our Best Colleges methodology, which evaluates academic excellence, is determined by the current education landscape, including widely adopted college admissions policies and standards.
Each measure that U.S. News uses in its rankings captures some important dimension of the academic program. The weight, expressed as a percentage, tells the relative importance that U.S. News places on each measure. ACT or SAT scores only account for 8.125 percent in our methodology. For comparison, outcome measurements, such as graduation rate and freshman retention rate, account for 30 percent of the U.S. News rankings and are the most heavily weighted factors.
