Regents make standardized tests scores optional, temporarily, for MUS admittance

Press release

The Montana Board of Regents of Higher Education voted Thursday to temporarily suspend the Montana University System’s requirement that students provide ACT or SAT test scores for admission to its four-year campuses.

The change, which is effective through Sept. 1, 2021, recognizes the disruption COVID-19 has created for students, potentially interfering with test preparation and the logistics of taking the ACT exam.

The ACT test serves as an assessment tool for K-12 schools, measures college preparedness and helps colleges with placement of incoming students, said Brock Tessman, Deputy Commissioner of Academic, Research & Student Affairs. The ACT has been Montana’s state standardized exam for high school students since 2016, for federal accountability purposes. The exam is administered by the Montana Office of Public Instruction and funded through a grant from the Montana University System.

“While we expect nearly the same, or very nearly the same, number of students to take the exam this year, we want to recognize the many new challenges they face and ensure that testing is not a barrier to entering the Montana University System,” Tessman said.

Students are still encouraged to submit their ACT or SAT scores, however they are not required for admission to the Montana University System’s four-year campuses. The BOR Thursday approved additional temporary admissions options as follows:

Mathematics:

• A cumulative high school GPA of 3.0 or higher; or

• A cumulative high school GPA of 2.5 or higher and an Algebra II course grade of C or better.

Writing:

• A cumulative high school GPA of 3.0 or higher; or

• A cumulative high school GPA of 2.5 or higher and a course grade of C or better in an 11th grade English course.

Last month, the Montana University System and the Office of Public Instruction announced that Montana juniors will have the opportunity to take the ACT free of charge this coming fall semester of their senior year.

Normally, current high school juniors would take the ACT this spring, however, that will not be possible because of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Instead, high schools will have the ability to administer the ACT Oct. 6 with a makeup test Oct. 20.