By: Cayden Hartman
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas admissions and academic scholarship office announced new changes for perspective students.
For the Summer and Fall Semesters of 2021 out of state students will no longer be required to score a qualifying grade on the ACT to receive discounts on Tuition here at the U of A.
Students in the states surrounding Arkansas in addition to Ill. and Ga. can start earning a percentage off out of state tuition with just a 3.20 grade point average.
With the State of Texas making on up the biggest contribution of out-of-state students here at the U of A.
The admissions department made the decision to omit standardized test scores in Sept. due to problems related with test scheduling during the pandemic.
Suzanne McCray, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions, said “Because of the problems with testing we removed the ACT scores and let it be GPA only.”
The choice to change this policy was meant to help students along with the scholarship and admission application process without having to worry about when they’d to take standardized tests like the ACT and SAT.
“We’ve had a lot of students who’ve had test after test cancelled because social distancing and testing are very difficult to combine and with that frustration they delay applying and so were trying to help them not having to put off getting things done like they would normally do,” McCray said.
The New Arkansas Non-Resident Tuition Award Scholarships offers up to 90% off of the non in-state price for perspective students given they have the required GPA.
While those nine states have the greatest opportunity for discounts, the other 41 states still have the opportunity to earn up to 80% off.
McCray said that the office of admissions brought forward other changes outside of the NRTA.
Scholarships for in-state students have either had ACT requirements completely dropped or made optional for Arkansas students.
McCray detailed changes also came to the general admission process.
“Admission is now simply if you have a 3.20 or higher, we will admit you,” McCray said.
McCray said that if a student doesn’t meet the grade point average, they will be required to meet the normal admission standards.
Other colleges and universities around the state have also been adapting their admission policies to accommodate the lack of standardized testing opportunities during the pandemic.
According to Fairtest.org, a total of 11 Arkansas learning institutions have made ACT and SAT scores optional through the fall 2021 semester.
Three of the eleven schools have modified admissions criteria without making standardized testing completely optional.
The University of Arkansas campus in Monticello and Arkansas Tech University will require placement tests for students without ACT or SAT scores.
Arkansas Baptist College will require students applying to specific programs to submit test scores.
Other universities such as Harding and Arkansas State University have not announced changes as of Oct. 2.
The U of A’s pandemic accommodations to admissions and scholarships are meant to help students through these difficult times, McCray said.