By Alecia Lipton, University Communications and Marketing

Miami University has announced it will be test optional and not require ACT or SAT test scores of first-year and transfer students applying for admission through spring 2026.

This follows three years of students admitted under a test-optional policy. The first two classes, admitted for fall 2021 and fall 2022, were the most academically accomplished in Miami’s history, holding average GPAs of 3.87 and 3.91, respectively. Since the fall 2020 cycle, applications have increased 24.7%.

“Since Miami has been test optional, about 50 percent of our applicants have asked us to use an ACT or SAT score in our evaluation of their application,” said Bethany Perkins, director of admission. “We continue to enroll extremely accomplished students, and the academic profile of each new class continues to be among the best of all Ohio public universities.” 

Miami’s evaluation of prospective student applications will continue to consider factors such as grades, GPA, strength of curriculum, application essays, co-curricular and extracurricular activities, talent, and personal background, among other factors.

“A test score has never been the only factor Miami’s admission committee considers in application evaluation, and it certainly isn’t the most important factor,” Perkins said. “There are much better predictors of college success such as the strength of a student’s curriculum and achievements in high school courses.”

A test score also will not be required for applicants to be considered for merit scholarships or admission to competitive programs such as the Honors College, the Farmer School of Business, or Nursing. However, students who want test scores to be considered will still have that option.

At Miami, all applications are evaluated both to determine whether students are academically prepared and to gauge how the applicant might contribute to their academic program and the community overall. With competitive programs, how a student may contribute to the community becomes a more important factor in admission decisions.

“The extension of our test-optional policy will allow us to evaluate the outcomes of Miami University’s class of 2025 before deciding whether the university should be test optional permanently,” said Brent Shock, vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Success. “Analysis of graduate data, combined with the student retention and success data we’re already evaluating, will enable us to make a well-informed decision based on the best interests of future students.” 

For more information, visit Miami University’s test-optional admission FAQs website.