By Liam Knox | Updated on Jun 12, 2026 at 05:55 PM
Columbia University will once again require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores to be admitted starting in 2027, according to a university statement , after a faculty review determined they were “a useful indicator of potential student success.”
The move makes New York-based Columbia the last Ivy League school to abandon test-optional policies largely adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic. Last month, Yale eliminated its test-flexible policy, under which students could replace the SAT or ACT with Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate scores.
In early 2024, a slew of elite schools, including Dartmouth University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University began reintroducing standardized test requirements, citing uncertainty over students’ academic preparedness.
Last week hundreds of faculty at the University of California system, which includes UCLA and UC Berkeley, wrote a letter asking for a return to standardized test requirements. On Thursday the system’s Faculty Senate established a committee to reevaluate UC admissions policies.
Standardized testing has also become a political football in the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape higher education. Administration officials have written that test-optional policies could be used to give preference to certain racial groups, and indicate a violation of the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on affirmative action.
Friday’s statement said the renewed testing requirement is for both Columbia College and Columbia Engineering, which encompasses the vast majority of undergraduate students.