Seven Georgia public colleges reinstate testing requirements

A slate of public colleges and universities in Georgia will begin requiring standardized test scores on applications again after the state’s Board of Regents voted on the matter Tuesday.

Though the board oversees the entire 28-campus University of Georgia System, only seven will require test scores: Augusta University, the University of Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia College and State University, Georgia State University, Georgia Southern University and Kennesaw State University.

UGA, Georgia Tech and Georgia State College and University will require scores starting this fall; the other four will do so starting in 2026. Applicants to the other 21 campuses will have the option to omit scores if they meet a minimum high school GPA requirement, which will be determined by individual colleges.

The decision reinstates a required testing policy in place until 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic led most colleges to adopt temporary test-optional policies.

The majority of institutions have now either extended their optional policies or enshrined them indefinitely. But some are also reverting to the pre-pandemic norm, including high-profile private institutions like Yale and Harvard University along with at least one public flagship, the University of Texas at Austin, after new research on testing’s ties to academic success at selective institutions reignited the debate over its use in admissions.

The Georgia system decision is one of the first to solidify a return to test requirements for more regionally focused open-access institutions like Georgia Southern and Augusta State.

Georgia Southern University president Kyle Marrero told The Georgia Recorder that the two-year runway will allow the institution to get the word out to applicants early in their high school careers and “enculturate back test taking within our region, within our marketplaces.”