Test policy · 50 states · Nebraska

Do Nebraska's public universities require the SAT or ACT in 2026?

As of October 2026: No. All 6 Nebraska public universities we checked are test-optional: a score is considered if sent, but not required (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Chadron State College, Peru State College and 3 more).

Every Nebraska public four-year university makes SAT/ACT scores optional for first-year admission: a high enough GPA or class rank satisfies the requirement instead, and scores are still used for scholarships or course placement if a student sends them. This is set by each system's own governing board, not a state law, and no Nebraska public university requires a test score for fall 2026 (or any year checked) first-year applicants.

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

The statewide rule

No statewide rule. No Nebraska statute setting a statewide SAT/ACT admission policy was found. Admission testing policy is set separately by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents (NU system: UNL, UNO, UNK) and the Nebraska State College System Board of Trustees (Chadron State, Peru State, Wayne State). does not set a testing requirement; each public university in Nebraska sets its own policy.

Checked the NU system and Nebraska State College System governing-board sites and the admissions pages below; did not do a full search of Nebraska Revised Statutes for a testing-policy law.

University of Nebraska System: Optional, Fall 2026 per UNL's Common Data Set; UNO and UNK admissions pages do not state a specific entering term. One Board of Regents framework applies at UNL, UNO, and UNK: a 16-unit core curriculum plus one 'performance requirement' that can be met by GPA, class rank, or an ACT/SAT score (thresholds differ slightly by campus), so a test score is never the only path to assured admission at any of the three. All three publish this as 'optional', not 'varies_by_campus'. Source

Nebraska State College System: Optional, unknown (no single system-wide policy page found; each college's own admissions page was checked instead). Chadron State, Peru State, and Wayne State College each publish essentially open admission with ACT/SAT scores optional (recommended for scholarships/placement, not required). I could not find one unified Nebraska State College System (Board of Trustees) admissions-policy page stating this for all three colleges at once, so this system-level row is an aggregation of the three colleges' own pages, listed individually below.

University by university

The flagship and the state's largest public universities. Each label comes from the university's own admissions page, quoted; "applies to" is the entering term the page names. 0 required · 6 test-optional · 0 test-blind.

University	SAT / ACT	Applies to	CLT	Source
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Flagship Lincoln UNL's own Common Data Set 2024-2025 (C column) states this for 'Fall 2026' and gives July 15 as the latest date SAT/ACT scores are accepted for fall-term admission. UNL's freshman requirements also let class rank (top half) substitute for a test score.	Test-optional	Fall 2026 (per the Common Data Set page's own language)	—	“Not required for admission, but consider if submitted” iea.unl.edu
Chadron State College Chadron Open-admission college; no SAT/ACT/GPA cutoff for admission itself. Scores are recommended for scholarship eligibility and math course placement.	Test-optional	unknown (not stated on the page)	—	“Freshmen are recommended to provide their ACT or SAT scores, prior to enrollment, to be considered for scholarships with ACT/SAT requirements and for Math Placement” csc.edu
Peru State College Peru ACT (school code 2470) or SAT (school code 6468) scores are required for certain competitive scholarships even though not required for admission.	Test-optional	unknown (not stated on the page)	—	“Please note admission to Peru State College does not require an ACT or SAT score. However, some competitive scholarships do require an ACT or SAT” peru.edu
University of Nebraska Omaha Omaha A test score is only one of four ways to meet the performance requirement (GPA, class rank, ACT, or SAT); it is not mandatory on its own.	Test-optional	unknown (page gives current admission requirements and does not name an entering term)	—	“Cumulative GPA of 3.0 (4.0 scale); Class Ranking in the upper 50%; ACT composite score of 20+; SAT score of 1040+” unomaha.edu
University of Nebraska at Kearney Kearney ACT 20+ or SAT 1040+ is also accepted as one of four equivalent performance-requirement options (GPA, class rank, ACT, or SAT). Applicants who miss all four may still be considered under 'Admission by Review'. Freshmen over age 21: 'ACT or SAT scores are NOT required.'	Test-optional	unknown (page gives current admission requirements and does not name an entering term)	—	“Or, rank in the top half of their high school graduating class. Or, have a 3.0 cumulative high school grade point average.” unk.edu
Wayne State College Wayne LOWER-CONFIDENCE ENTRY: wsc.edu blocked direct automated fetches (Cloudflare bot challenge, confirmed via WebFetch 403 and curl 403) on this check, so this quote comes from a search-engine snippet of the official page rather than a page I loaded and read myself. Scores are also used for scholarship and NCAA athletic eligibility per the same snippet. Re-verification attempt (2026-10-08) also hit a 403 on wsc.edu; re-confirmed the same wording via two independent WebSearch queries that both attribute the identical quote to the official wsc.edu freshmen admissions page, so confidence is improved but still not a direct fetch.	Test-optional	unknown (not stated in the source checked)	—	“ACT/SAT scores are not required for admission; however, freshmen applicants under the age of 21 are encouraged to submit them” wsc.edu

What this means for your family

Optional describes the checkbox, not the outcome. At test-optional colleges that publish both numbers, students who sent a score were admitted at a higher rate than students who did not, and 115 colleges nationally still require one. Take a free mock SAT and a free mock ACT, prepare for the whole test over 6 to 12 weeks, and decide college by college whether to send the score.

How much a score moves with preparation, by starting score: Test Prep Gurus results. The submit-or-withhold arithmetic: Do test scores still matter?

At a glance

JSON (all states) · For AI agents

As of October 2026: No. All 6 Nebraska public universities we checked are test-optional: a score is considered if sent, but not required (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Chadron State College, Peru State College and 3 more).

There is no statewide rule in Nebraska; each public university sets its own policy.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the flagship, is test-optional for Fall 2026 (per the Common Data Set page's own language).

Checked against each university's own admissions page, October 2026. Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).

Questions families ask

Is Nebraska test-optional for its public universities in 2026? No. All 6 Nebraska public universities we checked are test-optional: a score is considered if sent, but not required (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Chadron State College, Peru State College and 3 more).

Does University of Nebraska-Lincoln require the SAT or ACT in 2026? Test-optional for Fall 2026 (per the Common Data Set page's own language). UNL's own Common Data Set 2024-2025 (C column) states this for 'Fall 2026' and gives July 15 as the latest date SAT/ACT scores are accepted for fall-term admission. UNL's freshman requirements also let class rank (top half) substitute for a test score. Source: iea.unl.edu.

Should my child take the SAT or ACT if Nebraska's public universities do not require it? Yes. Most families apply to colleges in more than one state, 115 four-year colleges nationally require a score, and at test-optional colleges students who submit a score are admitted at higher rates than students who do not. A strong score also opens merit scholarships. Start with a free mock SAT and a free mock ACT, prepare for the whole test over 6 to 12 weeks, and decide college by college whether to send it.

Method: for each state, the flagship and the public universities with roughly 8,000 or more undergraduates. Each policy label was read from the university's own first-year admissions page (or the state or system regulation), quoted verbatim, and re-checked by a second pass, October 2026. "Required" means a score is required of most first-year applicants (exemptions in the notes); "test-optional" means a score is considered if sent; "test-blind" means a score is not considered even if sent. Community colleges and private colleges are not covered. Policies change: the page carries the term each page named, and the report is refreshed each October.

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