Headlines keep announcing elite schools bringing testing back. A new count of 2,247 admissions policies says that's the exception, not the trend — just 7% of colleges require a score.
A new FairTest analysis of 2,247 four-year college admissions policies for the 2026-27 cycle found that 86% are test-optional, another 4% are test-free (meaning they won't look at a score even if submitted), and only 7% — 161 colleges — require the SAT or ACT. Reporting on the data notes that's despite a steady drum of announcements from selective schools reinstating testing, including Columbia, Yale, MIT, and Johns Hopkins.
The split is much narrower at the top of the rankings. Among U.S. News top-100 national universities, 11% now require scores versus 82% that stay test-optional — meaning the "testing is back" narrative is concentrated almost entirely among the most selective schools, while the vast majority of four-year colleges nationwide haven't moved.
Both things in this data are true at once, and both matter for your list. Nationally, test-optional is still the default by a wide margin. But if your list leans selective, you're applying into the 11% where testing is quietly becoming the norm again — not the 90% where it isn't.
Don't let the national headline number talk you out of testing if you're aiming anywhere near the top of the rankings. The schools driving admissions news — the ones you've heard of — are disproportionately the ones requiring scores again.
Go through your list school by school and check each one's actual 2026-27 policy — not what you assumed a year ago. A school being "test-optional" doesn't tell you whether submitting a strong score still helps; at many test-optional selective schools, most admitted students submitted one anyway.
If a chunk of your list is genuinely test-free or test-optional less-selective schools, you don't need to force a test score there. Spend that prep time on the schools where a score actually moves the needle — usually the more selective end of your list, where this data shows the real shift is happening.
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