ACT 'superscores,' other changes force Nebraska colleges to adapt admission criteria

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents recently approved a policy allowing students to use their GPAs to gain entrance. Previously, prospective students had been required to use either their class rank or a score on a college entrance exam. The change addressed what NU said was an issue with fewer high schools assigning class ranks.

Gaining college admittance without taking either the traditional ACT or SAT college entrance exams appears to becoming more accepted.

Doane University allows students to apply without submitting test scores.

Jake Elswick, vice president for enrollment and student services at the Crete school, said testing is not a holistic measure of a student’s ability to perform well in college courses and that the tests unfairly benefit students with the means to take prep courses and to retake the tests. He also said that research shows there are culturally biased questions in some exams.

Elswick said Doane believes that a high school GPA is a better barometer of college success, as a test cannot outline a student’s academic fitness and classroom experience.

He said Doane requires a writing sample from students who do not submit a test score and most students still submit test scores.

The University of Nebraska still uses test scores for scholarship consideration.

Nebraska Wesleyan University Vice President for Enrollment Management Bill Motzer said the school was the first Nebraska university to offer test-optional admission.

Motzer said he believes high school GPAs are a better indication of whether students will succeed at Wesleyan, as the institution is looking for individuals that are engaged in the classroom and academically focused. He said the university admits students with a high school GPA of 3.5 or above, and that test-optional students perform at similar levels to those who applied with a test score.

Motzer said the university is the third-largest feeder to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which points to the success of the test-optional program. 

“That’s the brand of student that we believe Admissions and the culture of the institution is trying to attract,” he said.

While colleges are changing admission standards, Motzer said the national college entrance exam companies are battling to stay relevant.

For instance, the ACT allows students to take specific sections of the test over again to raise their scores. 

Previously, students had to retake all four sections of the college entrance exam to alter their scores. ACT now lets students who have taken the test at least once to retest in one section or more to try to score higher. 

The combined best scores for each individual section — reading, English, science and math — will comprise a final "superscore."

Wesleyan's administration believes its current model is still working, Motzer said, adding that the ACT's changing standards may cause schools to change their benchmarks as well.

Motzer said the ACT is leveraging institutions to accept superscores to increase the number of students that take the exam as opposed to the SAT. He said both exams are constantly innovating to gain exam takers and that allowing students to take specific sections of the test will be lucrative for the ACT.

“These are not nonprofit institutions,” he said.

Union College does not accept superscores to meet admission requirements, said Michelle Velazquez Mesnard, vice president for enrollment services. However, it considers them for merit-based scholarships.

She said feedback about superscores from prospective students and parents is positive. 

Mesnard said Union College has yet to switch to a test-optional admission process, as college entrance exams historically have been the standard, but she said the school and many other colleges are considering it.

Spokeswoman Leslie Reed said UNL does not accept ACT superscores and is waiting to receive more data. She said once those numbers are provided, the university will review its long-term position.