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

Columbia University has become the last Ivy League institution to reinstate a standardized testing requirement, announcing on June 12, 2026, that it will mandate SAT or ACT scores for applicants seeking admission for the Fall 2028 semester [Columbia Undergraduate Admissions, 2026]. The decision marks a definitive end to the test-optional era for the Ivy League, which began as a pandemic-era accommodation.

According to the university's official announcement, Columbia College and Columbia Engineering will remain test-optional for the upcoming 2026-2027 admissions cycle but will require scores starting with the 2027-2028 cycle [Columbia Undergraduate Admissions, 2026]. This move aligns Columbia with six of its Ivy peers—Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania—which had already reinstated testing mandates for the current 2026-2027 cycle, as noted by multiple admissions advisors [Collegewise, 2026; Progress Learning, 2026]. Only Princeton University now remains officially test-optional among the Ivies for the foreseeable future.

The announcement, reported by the Columbia Spectator, solidifies a sweeping reversal among highly selective universities. Other elite non-Ivy institutions like MIT, Stanford, Caltech, and Georgetown had previously reinstated requirements [Progress Learning, 2026]. Columbia's decision provides a clear, long-term signal to high school students in the classes of 2027 and 2028 that preparation for these exams is once again a non-negotiable component of a competitive application to the vast majority of top-tier schools.