St. Thomas To Waive Standardized Test Requirements

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities university wants potential students to have their best shot of getting accepted. So it's waiving the standardized test requirement.

Moving forward, the University of St. Thomas is implementing a "test optional policy." That means students hoping to attend the school can choose whether or not to submit their ACT or SAT scores.

Officials with the school say this will not lower their expectations when it comes to admittance.

"We are really going to dive into a student's application. We're going to look at the courses they chose to take - and the rigor of those. We're going to look at the extra-curriculars and whether they were displaying leadership in the extracurriculars," Al Cotrone, vice president of enrollment at the University of St. Thomas, said. "The evidence we have -- even internally -- is those tests are not the best indicator of how well a student will do here, how much they will thrive, or how successful they will be afterwards."

The first class to have this option will be incoming freshmen starting in 2021.