The Impact of a Test-Optional College Admission Policy on the Persistence and Academic Achievement of Historically Marginalized Students

Kornegay, Dimana T.

Dissertation

The Impact of a Test-Optional College Admission Policy on the Persistence and Academic Achievement of Historically Marginalized Students

Public Deposited

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Abstract

The test-optional movement in American college admissions emerged as a response to the challenged notion that standardized tests, such as the SAT and ACT, predict student success. Research has shown that the tests may be discriminatory towards students from disadvantaged racial and ethnic backgrounds. This study examined two cohorts of incoming first-time, full- time, undergraduate, under-represented minority (URM) students from a 4-year, public, research university in New Jersey; one cohort was test-required, and one was test-optional. The study examined whether there were significant differences in the persistence, academic standing, and cumulative grade point average (GPA) from Year 1 to Year 2 of the students admitted with test scores, compared to those admitted without test scores. Both the persisting and the non-persisting students from each cohort were compared. The results of the analysis indicated no significant differences in persistence, two of the four categories of academic standing, and the cumulative GPA of the persisting URM students from the test-required cohort, compared to those from the test-optional cohort. Also, there were no significant differences in attrition, all categories of academic standing, and the cumulative GPA of the disenrolled URM students from the test-required cohort, compared to those from the test-optional cohort. Furthermore, a test-optional college admission policy, in combination with gender, race/ethnicity, Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) enrollment, or dormitory living, had no impact on the cumulative GPA of either persisting or disenrolled students. Lastly, consistent with the literature, the study found that the test-optional cohort had a higher percentage of female students and first-generation students, compared to the test-required cohort.

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