BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — There is an effort to keep a pandemic-era move in place that would change the requirements for high school students to get into college.
7 News' Pheben Kassahun spoke with a state lawmaker who is backing the move to get rid of the SAT or ACT permanently.
In early April, the State University of New York (SUNY) voted to eliminate the undergraduate admissions requirement for the standardized testing.
Flexibility is given to campuses where students will still have the option to share their scores.
"A growing body of research is showing that the disparities in the performance on those tests between students who have more money and students who don't. So, rather than predicting academic success, it really is a prediction of how much money you have. That's really not what the test was designed to do," Assemblymember Monica Wallace of Lancaster said.
Wallace cited a study from the University of Chicago that high school test GPA's were more likely to predict your success than the ACT and SAT scores.
Additionally, according to SUNY, fewer New York State high school students are taking the SAT, and a bulk is among historically underrepresented groups.
Wallace explained, "I think this is sending a signal that you shouldn't really be relying on this as a really predicted metric. More importantly, you should be really looking at this more holistic at the student. When I was in school, one of the things that I had in my college applications was that I had work, so it's not the GPA performance. Are you contributing to your family? What kind of hardships have you overcome? What does your essay say? Are you a good writer? What clubs are you involved in?"
While the tutoring and the courses can add up in pricing, Assemblymember Wallace said it is best to eliminate the barriers to get into college. not increase them.
7 News reached out to SUNY schools, Collegeboard and a Western New York college prep tutor and have yet to hear back on this.
