ATLANTA — A change is brewing in Georgia as the USG announced some colleges are waiving the ACT and SAT tests for fall 2022 applicants.
After high school, many students look forward to starting their journey to a college degree. But for some, getting in may be a struggle.
Many high-schoolers have jobs, extra curriculars, or other added stresses. Taking the ACT or SAT can be just one more.
"It's just a lot to worry about for your typical student," said Perry High senior, Jacob Manuel.
He says he's excited to start his journey at Georgia Tech this fall. He also says he's got a busy schedule with band, theater, tennis, volunteer work, and two jobs... so finding time to study for the SAT was a challenge.
"Once I get home; it's homework, schoolwork, studying, and then trying to cram studying for the SAT/ACT as well," said Manuel.
For fall 2022 freshmen, the University System of Georgia is waiving the SAT and ACT requirement for almost all of their 26 schools. The exceptions are Georgia College and State University, Georgia Tech, and UGA.
Alex Thomas, the director of admissions and recruitment at Fort Valley State, explained why he thinks they're waiving the test requirement.
"I think the decision was made to keep the best and brightest in the state of Georgia. A lot of the stats for this senior class of high school students show that many of them were applying to colleges outside of Georgia because many of our surrounding states are test-optional," said Thomas.
Thomas said since USG announced its decision, applications have increased more than 10%.
USG says all other admission requirements must be met, like the new minimum GPA average: 3.4 for research universities, 3.2 for comprehensive universities, and 3.0 for state universities.
The standardized test scores are still required for the Zell Miller scholarship, but not for HOPE.