Research · Test policy · October 2026

Which Colleges Require the SAT or ACT for Fall 2027? 31 Publics, 12 Top Privates

As of October 2026: Of 226 public universities we checked, 31 require an SAT or ACT score, 180 are test-optional, and 15 are test-blind. Among the 50 most-applied-to private nonprofit colleges, 12 require a score for fall 2027, 37 are test-optional, and 1 (Fordham University) could not be confirmed.

A state-by-state and college-by-college look at who wants a score from the high school class applying in 2026-27, and who waits until fall 2028.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

Which public universities require the SAT or ACT, state by state?

These are the first 60 rows of our public university review, covering flagships in every state plus every public that requires a score. The policy column uses three words: required, optional, and blind. The applies_to column copies what each university's own page says about which entering term the policy covers.

Table trimmed to the first 60 of 81 rows for this page; the full table lives at /research/public-flagships-and-required.

Which private colleges require a score for fall 2027?

These are the 50 most-applied-to private nonprofit colleges. The changed column copies what each college said about a past or future switch. Read the applies_to column closely, because a few colleges name a future cycle rather than this one.

Fordham's own admissions pages sit behind a login wall, so its policy is recorded as unknown rather than guessed.

Which colleges are test-blind for fall 2027?

Test-blind means a score is not read even if a student sends it. This table also names the schools we checked that turned out to be test-optional instead, plus two that are neither.

College of the Atlantic blocked every attempt to read its admissions pages, so its policy is not listed here.

Which public universities accept the Classic Learning Test?

Some families ask about the CLT, a third exam that a growing group of public universities will read. These are the public universities we confirmed accept it, with the policy each one applies.

23 rows, drawn from the same review of 226 public universities.

How many colleges require the SAT or ACT for fall 2027?

We checked 226 public universities, and 31 require an SAT or ACT score, while 180 are test-optional and 15 are test-blind. On the private side, 12 of the 50 most-applied-to private nonprofit colleges require a score from fall 2027 first-year applicants, 37 are test-optional, and 1 could not be confirmed.

Those two counts answer the headline question, but they hide how lopsided the map is. Testing requirements are not sprinkled evenly across the country. They sit in a few states and a few very selective private colleges. A family in Oregon and a family in Florida face different rules.

The honest way to read this is school by school. A list of 31 required publics sounds small next to 180 optional ones. But if your child wants the University of Florida, Georgia Tech or UNC Chapel Hill, the count that matters is one.

Our advice is simple. Write down the eight or ten colleges your child names most often. Find each one in the tables on this page. Then decide about testing based on that short list, not on a national average.

Which public flagships require a score for fall 2027?

Among the flagships in our table, the ones marked required include Auburn University, Florida State University, the University of Florida, Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Georgia, Purdue University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Ohio State University. Every other flagship in the first 60 rows is optional or blind.

Auburn is the one that often surprises people. Its row names fall 2027 first-year applicants directly. The University of Alabama, in the same state, is optional for the same term. Two big schools, one state, two different answers.

Florida is the clearest block. Florida State, the University of Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida all sit in the required column. The University of Florida row points to a statewide rule that binds every school in the system.

Georgia looks similar. Georgia Tech's row names fall 2026 and fall 2027. The University of Georgia's row names current first-year and dual-enrollment applicants for both of those terms. Augusta, Georgia College and State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Kennesaw State are all required as well.

For families in these states, the test is simply part of the plan. There is no version of the application where a score is skipped.

Which private colleges require the SAT or ACT for fall 2027?

Twelve of the 50 most-applied-to private colleges require a score: Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Brown, the University of Miami, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, Dartmouth, MIT and Georgetown. The other 37 are test-optional, and Fordham could not be confirmed.

The dates behind those rows differ a lot. Dartmouth and Harvard name the Class of 2029, which entered in fall 2025. MIT's row reaches back to fall 2022 entrants. Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and the University of Miami all point to fall 2026 and beyond, which covers fall 2027 too.

Georgetown is the odd one out. Its row says Georgetown never adopted test-optional admissions at all. There was no pause and no return. A score has always been part of the file there.

Carnegie Mellon needs a careful read. Its row says most colleges require a score of some kind, the School of Computer Science requires the SAT or ACT, and the College of Fine Arts stays test-optional. One university, three answers, depending on the program.

If any of those twelve names sit on your child's list, plan for a test date. The rest of the list does not change that.

Is Columbia test-optional for fall 2027 or not?

Columbia stays test-optional for fall 2027 and returns to requiring scores for students enrolling in fall 2028. Its row names the 2026-2027 cycle as the optional one and the 2027-2028 cycle as the first required one.

This is the single most confusing line in the whole data set, because headlines about Columbia's return ran well before the change takes effect. A student applying in the fall of 2026 for fall 2027 entry is not covered by the new rule.

Princeton and Notre Dame are in the same position. Princeton's row says testing is required beginning with the 2027-28 admission cycle, which means fall 2028 entry. Notre Dame's row uses the same cycle and the same entry year.

Vanderbilt stretches further out. Its row covers fall 2027 and fall 2028 applicants as optional, with testing required starting for fall 2029 entry. That is three full application years away from this one.

So the rule for parents is to match the announcement to your child's entry year. A current junior and a current sophomore can face opposite rules at the same college.

Which colleges brought back the SAT after dropping it?

At least 20 selective US colleges have reinstated an SAT or ACT requirement after a pandemic-era pause. The wave ran from MIT, through Dartmouth, Yale, Brown, Harvard and Caltech for fall 2025, to UT Austin, Ohio State, the University of Miami and most of Florida's publics, and then Cornell, Penn, Johns Hopkins and Stanford for fall 2026.

The order matters less than the pattern. Most of these are highly selective schools that found they wanted the score back. They did not all move together, and a few, like Georgetown, Purdue, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, never really left.

The University of Georgia's own row explains its short pause: fall 2022 came after a single test-optional cycle in fall 2021. That is why Georgia feels different from, say, Michigan, where no reinstatement has been announced.

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is the newest name on the list. Its row names fall 2027 as the first required class, with a self-report deadline of January 20, 2027. That is a live deadline for this year's seniors.

Watching this wave is useful for younger students. A college that is optional today may not be optional when a current ninth grader applies.

Which big-name colleges are still test-optional with no return announced?

For fall 2027, none of the schools we re-checked this round have reinstated a requirement: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Washington University in St. Louis remain test-optional with no announced return date. Duke, Northwestern, Rice, Emory and the University of Chicago are also still optional with no reinstatement announced.

Michigan's own page says the 2027 application cycle is test-optional and that students will not be penalized for leaving a score out. That is about as plain as these pages get.

Wisconsin ties its policy to a board authorization that runs through the spring 2028 term, with an application deadline of October 1, 2027. Illinois is optional partly because state law makes every Illinois public university test-optional, so it is not purely the campus's choice.

UNC Chapel Hill is the exception that breaks the yes-or-no frame. Its policy is optional but tied to grades: a student with a weighted GPA of 2.8 or above does not have to submit a score, and a student below that line does.

We could not confirm the University of Virginia from its own site, since the admissions pages blocked every attempt to read them. We leave that one open rather than guess.

What does test-blind mean, and which colleges are test-blind?

Test-blind means the college will not read a score even if your child sends one, and 15 of the 226 public universities we checked are blind. The confirmed list includes all 9 University of California undergraduate campuses and all 23 California State University campuses.

Outside California, the blind list is short: Washington State University, Northern Illinois University, Reed College, Hampshire College, Lewis and Clark College and Augsburg University. Pitzer College is blind for fall 2027 entrants and plans to return to test-optional for fall 2028.

A lot of colleges get called test-blind when they are only test-optional. We checked a long second tier and found that Dickinson, Catholic University, Loyola New Orleans, the University of Washington, Western Washington, Eastern Washington, Central Washington, Evergreen State, Antioch, Sarah Lawrence, Whitman and Southern Oregon are all optional, not blind.

The difference is practical. At a blind school, a strong score adds nothing to the admission file. At an optional school, a strong score can still help. Sending a score to Berkeley or UCLA will not move the decision.

One warning: blind for admission does not always mean blind for placement or scholarships. Read what each school says about those two uses separately.

Does a test-optional college still use scores for scholarships?

Yes at some schools, and Liberty University states it plainly: scores from the CLT, SAT or ACT are not required for admission but may be used in consideration for merit-based aid. That split between admission and money is common.

Eastern Washington University's page says students may still submit scores and that all applicants get the same consideration either way. Drexel calls its review a No Harm Test-Optional review, which means a score that does not help is not held against the student.

Arkansas Tech University shows a third use. Its page says first-time students admitted without test scores must still submit ACT, SAT, CLT or ACCUPLACER scores for placement before they register. The test moves from the admission file to the course schedule.

Central Washington University says something similar: scores are not required for admission, but a student can send them for class placement. So the exam does not vanish just because admission does not ask for it.

For a family deciding whether to test, this is the honest middle ground. Even at an optional school, a score can shape aid offers or first-semester courses. That is a real reason to sit for one test date.

Which public universities accept the Classic Learning Test?

We confirmed 23 public universities that accept the Classic Learning Test, including all six Florida publics in our table, four Arkansas schools, seven Georgia schools, Purdue, Ball State, the University of Iowa, Iowa State, the University of New Mexico and the University of Oklahoma.

Florida is the most direct. The University of Florida's page says it has no test preference and superscores the SAT, ACT and CLT. The University of South Florida asks for at least one college entrance exam, naming all three.

Georgia's rows are dated. The Georgia schools in our CLT table are marked yes beginning fall 2027, which means the CLT becomes an accepted substitute that year. The University of Georgia is one of two system schools left out of that substitution.

Several optional schools accept it too. The University of Oklahoma says submitting ACT, SAT or CLT scores is optional. Iowa State says students may choose whether to self-report ACT, SAT or CLT scores. The University of New Mexico says scores are not required but may help in some cases.

If your child already sits for the CLT at school, this list tells you where that score can count. It is still a short list, so the SAT or ACT remains the safer default for most families.

Do the same rules apply if my child applies for spring instead of fall?

Often yes, and a few pages say so directly. The University of South Florida's row says fall, summer and spring applicants are all reviewed under the fall cycle, so the same requirement applies.

Stony Brook University names both Fall 2027 and Spring 2027 entry terms on the same page. Syracuse University's quote covers Fall 2026, Spring 2027, Fall 2027 and Spring 2028 in one sentence. The University of Maryland names Spring and Fall 2027 cycles together.

The University of Central Florida names Summer and Fall 2027 freshman admission. Clark Atlanta names the Spring 2027 and Fall 2027 cycle. The University of Idaho names Spring 2027 and Summer 2027 and later.

The lesson is to read the term names, not just the year. Colleges write these pages one entering term at a time, and a spring start sometimes falls under a different sentence.

When a page does not name your child's term at all, treat that as a blank, not as a no. Several rows in our table say plainly that no entering term was stated on the page.

How do I tell if a college changed its policy since last year?

Look at the change column in our private college table, which names 12 colleges with a past or future switch. Cornell, Penn, Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Johns Hopkins, the University of Miami, MIT and Dartmouth all list a past reinstatement.

Yale's row describes a narrower change. It moved from a test-flexible policy that took AP or IB scores to an SAT-or-ACT-only rule starting with the 2026-2027 cycle. A family that planned on sending AP scores instead now needs a different test.

Carnegie Mellon's change line says most of its colleges moved from test-optional to test-flexible starting fall 2026, meaning some accepted score is required. The School of Computer Science asks for the SAT or ACT in particular.

Four rows point forward rather than back: Columbia, Princeton, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. Each names the future cycle when testing starts. None of those four requires a score for fall 2027.

Policies move, and they move at odd times of year. We date this page so you can see how fresh it is, and we name the schools whose pages we could not read instead of filling the blank with a guess.

What should our family actually do about testing this year?

Start by sorting your child's list into the three buckets in our tables: required, optional and blind. With 31 required publics and 12 required private colleges, most lists have at least one school that asks for a score.

If even one required school is on the list, the decision is made. Pick a test date, prepare for it, and send the score everywhere it helps. There is no way around a required score at Florida, Georgia Tech, UNC Chapel Hill, Harvard or MIT.

If the list is all optional, the choice is about strength. A score that sits above a college's usual range helps. A score that sits well below it can sit at home at a true optional school. Watch for the aid and placement uses we described earlier.

If the list is all blind, such as a California-only list of UC and CSU campuses, the test does not shape admission. Those families can spend the time on grades, course rigor and essays instead.

Keep one more thing in mind for younger students. Columbia, Princeton and Notre Dame return for fall 2028, and Vanderbilt for fall 2029. A current sophomore or freshman should plan to test even if today's page says optional.

Related: The 2026 Public University Test Policy Report · Do test scores still matter? · SAT vs ACT · Private colleges' test policies