Harvard University announced on Thursday that it is reinstating its requirement that all applicants submit scores from SAT and ACT exams starting next year, The Harvard Gazette reported.

Harvard ended its requirement for prospective students to submit SAT and ACT scores in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and later extended that practice through 2024. 

The change will take effect in school’s next admission cycle in fall 2025, which is about a year earlier than previously announced, meaning that the Class of 2029 must submit SAT or ACT scores except in “exceptional cases” in which an applicant is unable to access these exams. Harvard noted that the majority of applicants in the last four years submitted SAT and ACT scores.

“Standardized tests are a means for all students, regardless of their background and life experience, to provide information that is predictive of success in college and beyond,” Hopi Hoekstra, the Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, said in a statement.

“Indeed, when students have the option of not submitting their test scores, they may choose to withhold information that, when interpreted by the admissions committee in the context of the local norms of their school, could have potentially helped their application. In short, more information, especially such strongly predictive information, is valuable for identifying talent from across the socioeconomic range.”

Hoekstra also said that a lack of access to the tests should never prevent a prospective student from applying, and Harvard released resources for applicants looking for no-cost tutoring and test preparation amid concerns about the various costs involved in taking the SATs and ACTs.

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