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Pandemic Prompts Test-Optional Admissions Policy At Trinity University

Students walk across the Trinity University campus on Feb. 6, 2018.
File Photo | Camille Phillips | Texas Public Radio
Students walk across the Trinity University campus on Feb. 6, 2018.

Trinity University in San Antonio is launching a test-optional admissions policy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students will have the option to apply to the college without submitting an ACT or SAT score for the next three years, beginning with the Fall 2021 semester.

“First and foremost, we don't think it's fair to students to require something that they do not have access to currently, and having a future so uncertain,” said Eric Maloof, vice-president of enrollment management at Trinity.

“We want to be as accessible as possible to the most highly-qualified students across this country and across the world. And by requiring these exams this year, we would not be doing that.”

Test dates for both college admission exams have been canceled or delayed this spring because of the coronavirus.

Maloof saidthe temporary policy change is also a chance to see if eliminating the test requirement allows the university to accept qualified students that might not have been offered a place before.

“This gives us the unique opportunity to assess students in different ways and start to be more creative in our assessment process,” Maloof said.

A growing number of colleges across the country have adopted test-optional policies in recent years, in part due to concerns that the requirement was eliminating students of color from their applicant pool.

Trinity plans to examine the effectiveness of the policy after three years and decide whether or not to make it permanent.

Camille Phillips can be reached at Camille@tpr.org or on Twitter at @cmpcamille.

Camille Phillips can be reached at camille@tpr.org or on Instagram at camille.m.phillips. TPR was founded by and is supported by our community. If you value our commitment to the highest standards of responsible journalism and are able to do so, please consider making your gift of support today.