Since administrations of the SAT and ACT have been suspended, how do colleges react when applicants are unable to provide the usual scores along with their high-school grades? The University of California system has sensibly waived the submission of standardized-test scores under current conditions.

In North Carolina, however, those who want to drop standardized scores entirely have attempted to push through a policy change to permanently make such scores optional. In today’s Martin Center article, Shannon Watkins explains the maneuvering at the most recent UNC Board of Governors meeting.

The SAT opponents had to settle for half a loaf — a three-year pilot program. But Watkins observes:

A three-year pilot program is preferable to a permanent policy because it is more easily reversible if graduation rates are negatively affected. It is, however, still unclear how the pilot program is the most efficient way to address coronavirus-related challenges. Either way, the citizens of North Carolina should be disturbed about how and why this meeting took place. Leveraging a global health crisis in an attempt to push through a permanent policy change—that would normally be subject to vigorous in-person debate and vote by the full board—smacks of opportunism. The citizens of North Carolina deserve better.