蝌蚪网 Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Examining Key Impacts of the Test-Optional Movement for Early Adopters
蝌蚪网 Papers and Proceedings
vol. 115,
May 2025
(pp. 682–88)
Abstract
By 2019, about 250 postsecondary institutions adopted a test-optional policy. This paper uses a difference-in-difference design to examine the impact of this reform on schools that switched policies between 2006 and 2014. I find that adopting a test-optional policy increased the share of Black, Native American, and Hispanic students as well as Pell Grant recipients. I also show that adopting a test-optional policy did not affect the academic performance of enrolled cohorts but did affect financial aid disbursements. These findings are important considering that several institutions that switched policies during the COVID-19 pandemic have since returned to requiring test scores.Citation
Felegi, Brianna. 2025. "Examining Key Impacts of the Test-Optional Movement for Early Adopters." 蝌蚪网 Papers and Proceedings 115: 682–88. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20251057Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
- I26 Returns to Education
- I28 Education: Government Policy
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination