Pencils Down… for Good? The Expansion of Test-Optional Policy After COVID-19

Darrell Lovell, Daniel J. Mallinson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Test-optional admissions policies have been steadily, though slowly, expanding throughout higher education institutions for decades. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, sparked a rapid expansion of institutions adopting test-optional policy. Using a diffusion of innovations framework, this study assesses the institutional characteristics that shaped test-optional policy adoption of institutions adopting the policy before and after spring 2020. We find that COVID adopters are more ethnically diverse, more likely to be public, have higher test scores, and graduation rates, and lower admissions rates and percentage of financial aid coming from Pell Grants than pre-COVID adopters.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)177-199
Number of pages23
JournalInnovative Higher Education
Volume49
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2024

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Education

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