Students applying to the University of Missouri campuses in Columbia, Rolla and St. Louis won’t have to take a standardized test for admission in the fall of 2024.
The University of Missouri System Board of Curators approved extending the program for another year during its meeting Thursday in Rolla.
The campuses went test optional during the coronavirus pandemic as a pilot program to give students less hassle and stress to apply for college.
The system is reporting so far that students who don’t take the ACT or SAT are comparable to those who do.
“At this point, it's a limited set of data, but we're not seeing significant differences. So the holistic approach of evaluating and admitting students is working,” said University President Mun Choi.
More than 70% of the students who apply for admission still take the standardized tests.
The extension came at the request of the school’s enrollment managers.
“Our competition, right now, with all other public universities in the state going test optional for the fall of 2024, we have to as well to be in a better competitive state,” Choi said.
Choi said the board will discuss the future of test requirements at a meeting next year.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City went test optional on a permanent basis in 2020.
S&T Construction Moves Forward
The curators also got a firsthand look at the construction plans on a new welcome center at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla.
The $25 million building will house enrollment and admissions offices and be the first destination point for prospective students.
Chancellor Mo Dehghani said it's important for the campus to give a first impression that is representative of the school’s academic excellence.
“When we have a destination for the families and the students, they come here and they are impressed with the physicality of the campus, then we are much more hopeful that we attract even a higher caliber of the students into the program,” Dehghani said.
The welcome center is part of a revamped arrival district at the campus. An innovation lab is also under construction.
