LSU to once again require applicants to submit standardized test scores for admission

LSU applicants will once again have to submit their ACT or SAT scores when applying to the Baton Rouge campus. LSU has been operating under a test-optional policy since June 2022. LSU Board of Supervisors member James Williams opposes changing the policy. He says it will put low-income families at a disadvantage because they cannot afford ACT tutoring.

“There are plenty of kids, who we want at LSU, who don’t come from households where they can afford to get that additional help on testing,” Williams said.

But LSU says retention rates and the GPA of students who do not submit a standardized test score are lower than those of students who do provide their ACT scores. LSU Chancellor Dr. James Dalton also says the test score is one piece they will look at for admission.

“We’ve got more Louisiana students that are enrolled at LSU than we ever have before. And this is a part of that process, of making sure that when students apply to LSU, that we have every piece of information that we can have to ensure their success,” Dalton explained.

The average ACT score of LSU students is 27. A minimum score is not needed to be admitted to the flagship campus. And Dalton says the test score is just one component of the total comprehensive admittance process.

“We’ve got to look at high school GPA. We’ve got to look at their involvement in local organizations. Were they on the football team? Were they’re involved in the church? Whether they’re holding down two jobs,” Dalton said.

Williams is concerned because standardized tests display known socioeconomic and geographic biases.

“When the test is designed by so-and-so from the northeast, and they’re phrasing questions that our kid from Bunkie doesn’t really get, because they don’t have to shovel snow or whatever they do in their test question, then they don’t get it,” Williams said.

The holistic admissions process that LSU has used over the last several years is designed to promote economic and racial diversity. Since adopting the test-optional admissions, Black and Hispanic enrollment has increased.