Delaware Valley University will no longer require SAT, ACT scores from applicants in most programs
It has become the latest college in the region to stop requiring most of its prospective students to submit SAT and ACT scores with their applications for admission.
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Delaware Valley University has become the latest college in the region to stop requiring standardized test scores from student applicants.
In an announcement Monday, the university said SAT and ACT scores would no longer be required for admission to 21 of its 29 majors, beginning with the class entering in Fall 2020.
“This policy will give more students the chance to access a DelVal education,” Tom Speakman, executive director of admission, said in a statement. “We know that standardized test scores are not always indicative of a student’s ability to succeed in college, and we’re proud to take action in recognition of this.”
More than 1,000 colleges nationally have scrapped standardized test score requirements, many as more schools seek to attract students from lower-income families who may be the first in their families to go to college. Critics for years have said the SAT is a better measure of family affluence than of college readiness. The development also comes as competition among colleges intensifies for a smaller number of high school graduates.
Other local colleges that have stopped requiring the scores to some degree in recent years include Temple, Rosemont, Stockton, Rider, Bryn Mawr, Cabrini, Dickinson, Eastern, Franklin and Marshall, Gettysburg, Immaculata, La Salle, Muhlenberg, St. Joseph’s, Rowan, Susquehanna, Ursinus, and the University of Delaware. Some require students to have a minimum high school GPA to avoid submitting test scores; others require such scores for certain academic programs or ask students to submit an essay.
At Delaware Valley, which has about 1,980 undergraduates, international students will continue to be required to submit standardized test scores. Home-schooled applicants also will be encouraged to take either the SAT or ACT or undergo an admission interview, the school said.
The eight majors that will continue to be requiretest scores from applicants are animal science, biology, chemistry, conservation and wildlife management, equine science, food science, small animal science and zoo science.