A May 4, 2026 NPR report found that more students are choosing to submit SAT or ACT scores than in any recent year — with score submissions up roughly 10% compared to last year, even as more than 90% of ranked colleges remain officially test-optional. The reason, according to experts cited in the report: grade inflation has made GPAs harder to use for comparison, and students are using test scores to stand out. Here's what the data actually shows and how to think about your own decision.

Test-optional does not mean test-irrelevant. That gap between what colleges say and how applications actually work is becoming harder to ignore.

On May 4, 2026, NPR published data showing that the number of college applicants choosing to submit SAT or ACT scores has increased by roughly 10% compared to the prior application cycle. Common App data cited in the report shows an 11% increase in score submissions, alongside a 2% drop in the number of applicants submitting without any test scores.1

This is happening at a moment when test-optional remains the stated policy at more than 90% of ranked U.S. four-year colleges.

What Is Actually Driving This Shift

The most significant factor, according to admissions experts quoted in the NPR report, is grade inflation.

High school GPAs have climbed steadily over the past decade. When a majority of applicants arrive with 3.8 or higher unweighted GPAs, admissions readers have limited ability to distinguish candidates based on academic performance alone. A standardized test score — even from a school with lenient grading — gives readers a second data point.

Students appear to be figuring this out on their own. They are submitting scores not because schools require them, but because a strong score provides differentiation that a 4.0 GPA no longer automatically delivers.1

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How Ivy League Moves Are Influencing Everyone Else

Part of what is pushing score submissions higher is the clear directional signal from elite institutions.

More than half of the eight Ivy League schools now require test scores — or offer "test-flexible" alternatives — for applicants in the 2025-26 admissions cycle. Princeton has announced it will reinstate a full testing requirement for students applying for fall 2028 enrollment.1

When schools at the top of the selectivity range signal that scores matter, it creates pressure across the applicant pool — including at schools where tests remain officially optional. Students applying to a range of schools often end up submitting their scores everywhere rather than managing different policies across different applications.

For the full picture of where Ivy League testing requirements now stand, see our post on Ivy League test requirements for the Class of 2027.

What This Means If You Are Deciding Whether to Submit

The surge in voluntary submissions does not automatically mean you should submit your scores. The relevant question is whether your scores help your application specifically.

A rough benchmark: if your score is above the 50th percentile for enrolled students at a school, submitting it adds positive context to your file. If it is below the 25th percentile, submitting it likely hurts. Most applicants fall somewhere in the middle, where the calculus is less obvious.

To know where your score lands, look up the reported middle 50% score ranges for each school on your list. Our guides to what a good SAT score actually looks like and what a good ACT score means by school type can help you benchmark your numbers.

For a deeper walkthrough of the submission decision itself, our guide on whether to submit SAT scores at test-optional schools covers the factors in detail.

Test-Optional Is Not Going Away

Despite the score submission surge, the widespread adoption of test-optional admissions is not reversing. A significant number of public universities have dropped their test-optional policies and reinstated score requirements — but the majority of institutions have not. Our post on public universities moving away from test-optional policies covers which schools changed and why.

What is shifting is the culture around how students approach the optional choice. "Optional" is increasingly being interpreted as "you should think hard about this, not just skip it."

If you are still in high school and have time to take or retake the SAT or ACT before applying, the submission surge is a reason to take the test seriously. A strong score is now a differentiator even at schools that do not require one. Our list of the best SAT prep courses is a good starting point if you want structured help preparing.

For Current Applicants

If you are applying in the fall 2026 or spring 2027 cycle and have already taken the SAT or ACT:

  1. Look up the middle 50% score range for every school on your list
  2. Submit your score at schools where it sits at or above the median
  3. Skip submission at schools where your score falls significantly below the 25th percentile
  4. When in doubt, request a fee waiver and take the test again — more options is better than fewer

If you have not yet taken either test, check ACT test dates for 2026-2027 to find an upcoming administration. The test-optional era made sitting it out feel safe. The data from this cycle suggests that strong test scores are once again functioning as competitive advantages — even where they are not required.

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Footnotes

  1. NPR. (2026, May 4). More college applicants are opting to include SAT or ACT scores in their submissions. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2026/05/04/nx-s1-5806634/more-college-applicants-are-opting-to-include-sat-or-act-scores-in-their-submissions ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Common App. (2026). Common App data on test score submissions. Common App. https://www.commonapp.org/research/ ↩