Oklahoma Christian Admissions Goes Test-Optional

In summer 2021, Oklahoma Christian University decided to make test scores optional for students applying to Oklahoma Christian. Students still must submit their transcript and have a GPA of 2.0 or higher to be accepted, but they can now opt out of providing SAT or ACT scores.

Kayla Goodrich, the admissions operations manager, said the decision was made by a variety of groups.

“It was admissions parties, it was some administration, some faculty, registrar  — we talked to everybody,” Goodrich said. “It wasn’t one single person or group responsible, it was kind of a collaborative effort.”

Stephanie Baird, registrar and MBA program director, said the decision to make test scores optional came down to fairness for incoming students’ differing school districts, economic statuses, ethnicities, etc. 

“Judging a student’s potential to do well in college based on one Saturday morning of testing doesn’t always give us a full picture of how well the student will perform in college.”

Junior Zachariah Parsons said adding an option to not include test scores will provide opportunities for more students.

“I personally feel that the ACT/SAT test scores have become over-rated in the college acceptance process,” Parsons said. “This reliance puts students with good grades but are not good at taking organized tests at a disadvantage.”

Currently, the admissions team uses ACT, SAT and CLT scores to place students in courses matching their academic standing. Lower ACT scores might mean a student could participate in the Bridge Program, while higher scores mean a student may be a candidate for the Honors Program. Tests are currently required for admission into the Honors Program.

Baird said one of the next steps in the process of going test-optional is finding the best way to place students in appropriate courses and grant them scholarships.

The current system uses leveling courses and other assessments to determine class placement if students do not submit test scores. 

Lisa Gonzalez, the director of financial services, said students earn merit scholarships through their unweighted cumulative high school GPA and their overall highest ACT, CLT or SAT test score. 

According to Oklahoma Christian’s website, in order to receive a traditional merit scholarship, students would need to provide a test score to place them in the proper award bracket. Test scores will not negatively affect scholarship. 

Goodrich said higher education as a whole is moving towards being test-optional. 

“There’s a lot of studies that show it’s more equitable in terms of higher education, in terms of offering a product to all audiences,” Goodrich said. “Also, COVID-19 really limited the ability for a lot of states to offer tests.”

Baird said Oklahoma Christian was behind other universities making admission test-optional. 

“We want students to know that we are aware of best practices in higher education admissions, and this assists with that,” Baird said.

Baird said this decision will diversify the student body in a number of ways. 

“It may allow us to reach students of different socioeconomic statuses, educational backgrounds, parent education levels and so on,” Baird said. “I think it could be a good thing in evaluating students on their work ethic more so than their ability to take a test.”

Goodrich said some students may perform well in and outside of school, but test anxiety affects their test scores, potentially hampering their ability to get accepted into their college of choice. She said the change to go test-optional is a big shift.

“Standardized testing is the thing that’s moved higher education in different directions,” Goodrich said. “It was really influential in the history of higher education as a whole, so moving away from it is challenging and scary.”