Yale College will require first-year and transfer applicants to submit either SAT or ACT scores beginning this fall, ending several years of pandemic-era flexibility in its undergraduate admissions process.
The change restores a pre-pandemic requirement after six admissions cycles in which SAT and ACT scores were not required.
Yale removed the standardized testing requirement in 2020 and later introduced a test-flexible policy in 2024, allowing applicants to submit SAT, ACT, International Baccalaureate or Advanced Placement scores.
Yale said academic excellence remains the central part of its admissions process and that SAT and ACT scores are strong indicators of future academic performance.
The university also said the scores can help identify well-prepared applicants, including those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, when reviewed as part of a broader admissions process.
The change follows a recommendation from the Presidential Council on Yale College Admissions, a nine-member group formed by University President Maurie McInnis in fall 2025. The council reviewed Yale’s admissions policies after the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against affirmative action and also considered recent federal executive orders and agency guidelines.
Several Ivy League universities, including Brown, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth and Harvard, already require SAT or ACT scores. Princeton will require scores for applicants seeking fall 2028 enrollment, while Columbia remains test-optional.
According to Yale’s admissions website, 90 percent of first-year students who enrolled last fall submitted SAT or ACT scores. About two-thirds submitted AP or IB scores, and 61 percent submitted scores from multiple exams.
The council completed its review at the end of the 2025-26 academic year and issued guidance on preventing application misrepresentation and increasing admissions transparency.
The move also follows recommendations from Yale’s Committee on Trust in Higher Education, which urged the university to clarify admissions standards. The committee identified highly selective admissions as one factor contributing to declining public trust in Yale and higher education.
Yale College accepted 4.2 percent of applicants in its most recent admissions cycle.
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