University of Missouri board extends test-optional application policy

The University of Missouri System Board of Curators voted to extend a pandemic-era test-optional application policy through the fall of 2024.

According to KBIA, the decision, made on Tuesday by a unanimous vote, impacts students applying to the University of Missouri, University of Missouri-St. Louis and Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Curator Michael Williams said during the meeting that graduation data on test-optional admissions policies don’t yet exist.

Mun Choi, president of the UM System and chancellor of the University of Missouri, said during the meeting that switching back to test-optional may put them at a disadvantage.

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“The market indicates that there are so many universities that don’t require (standardized tests) that going the test mandatory route right now would put us at a disadvantage,” Choi said.

“If we were to move away from the test-optional situation now, there will be a decline in the number of students that apply,” Choi added. “How much, we’re not sure. But we know that it’s not going to go up, it’s going to decline.”

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According to the report, Purdue, the University of Florida, the University of Georgia and the University of Tennessee are the only similar universities that have begun requiring test scores for fall 2024.