Columbia University Reinstates SAT/ACT Requirement for 2027-28 Admissions Cycle

Columbia University has announced it will require standardized test scores (SAT or ACT) for the 2027-2028 admissions cycle and beyond, according to the university's undergraduate admissions website. This decision makes Columbia the final Ivy League institution to reinstate testing requirements, completing a full reversal of the test-optional policies adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With this announcement, all eight Ivy League schools—Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale—will now require standardized test scores for applicants. The move comes as elite institutions nationwide have been reinstating testing requirements, with six of the eight Ivies already requiring scores for the 2026-2027 cycle, according to CollegeWise.

The Columbia decision represents a significant shift in the admissions landscape for highly-selective universities. While Columbia College and Columbia Engineering will remain test-optional for the upcoming 2026-2027 admissions cycle, the university's announcement signals a clear return to pre-pandemic admissions practices among the nation's most competitive institutions.

This development follows similar reinstatements by other elite universities including MIT, Caltech, Georgetown, and the entire University System of Georgia, which includes Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia. The trend marks a decisive end to the widespread test-optional movement that dominated college admissions during and immediately following the pandemic years.

For families targeting elite universities, this announcement means that standardized testing preparation should be considered essential for all applicants to Ivy League institutions beginning with the Class of 2032 (applying in 2027-28). The complete reversal among the Ivies suggests that test scores will remain a critical component of holistic admissions review at the most selective institutions for the foreseeable future.