Test optional for international students?

Numerous colleges and universities in the U.S.A. have made the ACT and SAT optional as an admission requirement for domestic students and some are extending this to international students as well. The ACT and SAT have been required for screening students for admission; underlying the requirement is the presumption that the test indicates readiness and, therefore, likelihood of success. Indeed, if tests are used to identify those students prepared to succeed, then they could be key in helping all students. Unfortunately, the tests have often been perceived or used as a hurdle rather than a predictor of success. Using tests as a hurdle has been found to be particularly consequential for U.S.A. domestic students and it is also significant for international students.

International students are looking for institutions that do not require submission of ACT or SAT scores, as evidenced by the work of consultants such as Sarah Loring de Garcia who helps Mexican students find U.S.A., Canadian, and other universities that are test optional. de Garcia offers an important perspective when she commented that if institutions want "to bring international students in, particularly if they are not looking at international students as strictly a tuition revenue benefit, but rather as a community benefit, in terms of what international students bring to that college campus, then they need to think carefully about what this test is really offering them in terms of information about students."