The University of Pittsburgh will extend its SAT and ACT test-optional program — piloted initially on its branches for last fall — through fall 2023 and is expanding it to all programs and locations including the main Oakland campus.
Provost Ann Cudd cited effects of the pandemic and a desire to recruit students “whose diverse talents and potential for leadership may not be well measured by standardized tests.”
In remarks accompanying an announcement Wednesday, she said, “No stars should be left in the dark.”
Pitt becomes the latest university during the COVID-19 pandemic to introduce or expand testing-optionaI policies. Back in April, it said the pilot was a response to upheaval facing students over COVID-19, including the shuttering of K-12 schools.
Colleges at the time were shifting their attention from spring campus closures to what they should expect from the fall freshman applicant pool, given impacts on health, travel, family incomes and difficulty taking the test.
Pitt, the largest Western Pennsylvania university, enrolls about 34,000 students — all but about 5,000 of them on its main Oakland campus. The rest attend branches at Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown and Titusville.
Pitt last fall reported that there were 4,300 first-year students enrolled at Oakland alone, but the number of applicants for each of those slots was not available late Wednesday, nor was branch campus data.
On Wednesday, Pitt officials said extending the policy that gives students the option to include or not include the SAT and ACT will help ensure that no student is denied the opportunity for admission.
“We are committed to welcoming students of all backgrounds to our campuses,” the provost stated. “Evaluating our students holistically continues to be central to our admissions approach.”
Four months after the pilot was announced, Pitt extended the option to 2021 applicants to the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and implemented to more area on the Pittsburgh campus.
Bill Schackner: bschackner@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1977 and on Twitter @Bschackner.
First Published: February 11, 2021, 12:26 a.m.
