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AMNA NAWAZ: Headlines around
higher education this year
have centered on protests,

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free speech and students
safety. But some
important changes on the

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academic and admissions front
have gotten less attention,
including some schools

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turning back to standardized
testing after deciding they
would no longer require it.

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Paul Solman has that story
for our latest series
on Rethinking College.

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KELLY DAMPHOUSSE, President,
Texas State University:
I was terrible in math.

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PAUL SOLMAN: Meet Kelly
Damphousse, president of Texas
State University in San Marcos.

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KELLY DAMPHOUSSE: So I
end up going to community
college, and I got a 2.54 GPA.

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PAUL SOLMAN: When he made
it to a four-year school, he
was the first in his family,

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just like 43 percent of
the 34,000 undergrads
here at Texas State.

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So you're sympathetic
to the idea that tests
should be optional.

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KELLY DAMPHOUSSE: Yes.
Well, yes. If I had
had to take the test,

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I probably wouldn't have
gotten into college.

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PAUL SOLMAN: That test, the SAT,
or ACT, which for years most
colleges required for admission,

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research having shown
test scores correlated
with college GPAs.

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But during the pandemic,
many dropped the requirement.
Post-pandemic, Texas

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State remains test-optional. And
yet retention rates are still
rising, while, more than ever:

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KELLY DAMPHOUSSE: We look like
the state of Texas,the most
diverse university in the state.

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PAUL SOLMAN: One that
welcomes students like
the president once was.

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KELLY DAMPHOUSSE: We
are creating greater
opportunities for people

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to access the opportunity to
get a four-year college degree,

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something we know is a
life-changing experience
for these people.

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PAUL SOLMAN: Just 40
minutes away, the University
of Texas at Austin,

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42,000 undergrads, average SAT
1355 out of 1600. U.T. also
went test-optional during COVID,

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but it's now reinstated
test scores, joining a
host of other schools.

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Why? Yes, it's already
selective, says U.T.
president Jay Hartzell.

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JAY HARTZELL, President, The
University of Texas at Austin:
Anybody who applies from

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a Texas high school and
is in the top 6 percent of
their class is admitted.

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PAUL SOLMAN: But, he emphasizes:

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JAY HARTZELL: That doesn't
mean they're admitted
to business or finance,
for example, or computer

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science or liberal arts
necessarily. So we use the
test scores historically
to put them in the right

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schools and colleges when they
get here, put them in the right
spots to ultimately succeed.

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PAUL SOLMAN: And reroute
some of the automatic admits,

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though they might have had low
test scores, and perhaps others,

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from difficult majors that
might frustrate them, he says,
even to the point of giving up.

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So Hartzell thinks testing
can be used compassionately,

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and should even improve a
crucial objective, graduation
rates, now at about 75 percent.

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KENDRA STRANGE, Breakthrough
Central Texas: I am
excited for you both.

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PAUL SOLMAN: But Kendra Strange,

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who helps low-income
students prepare for
college, begs to differ.

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KENDRA STRANGE: There's
so much that goes into
deciding what you want to

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study in college. And the
test score alone doesn't
necessarily indicate whether or

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not a student is going
to be successful in one
particular career or
major. For many students,

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what you find is,
they're picking majors
around their passion.

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PAUL SOLMAN: And, to Strange,
passion inspires grit, which she
says is the real key to success.

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KENDRA STRANGE: Maybe
the student didn't test
well. Maybe the student
is not good at timed

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tests. It shouldn't equate to
whether or not I'm going to be
a successful as an engineer.

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PAUL SOLMAN: Moreover,
says admissions coach
Yvonne Espinoza.

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YVONNE ESPINOZA, College
Counselor: Requiring
testing can close doors for

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those students who don't have
access to resources. When
test scores are required,

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my students from lower
socioeconomic backgrounds
were much less likely
to apply because they

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would see what colleges were
publishing on their Web sites
as their average SAT score,

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and they were scoring
well below that and didn't
understand that that was OK

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for them because of the schools
they went to, because they
didn't have access to resources.

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MIGUEL WASIELEWSKI, Head of
Admissions, The University
of Texas at Austin: I'm a

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first-generation student. My
mom didn't graduate high school.

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PAUL SOLMAN: Head of
admissions and U.T.
alum Miguel Wasielewski.

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MIGUEL WASIELEWSKI: My
dad didn't go to college.
And so we came from a very
low-income background.

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PAUL SOLMAN: And so kids like
he was are those he cares
most about. And not only

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can the tests can and not only
can the tests help from being
overmatched in tough courses,

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he says, but, worse, for a
school as rich in resources as
U.T. Austin, with test-optional:

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MIGUEL WASIELEWSKI: We were
not putting somebody into
a program that could have

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benefited from those
resources. So, with the
reinstitute of those scores,

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we will be able to
begin providing that
additional support to them.

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PAUL SOLMAN: Who is not
getting in now because of
test scores being required?

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MIGUEL WASIELEWSKI: I would
say that there's not a higher
likelihood or unlikelihood of

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that student getting in. It's
just another variable that we
have within the application.

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PAUL SOLMAN: In fact --
and this is an argument you
hear at other universities

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like MIT that have restored
test scores - - more students
from poor schools may now

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get in when compared to
similar students from similar
backgrounds in their region.

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MIGUEL WASIELEWSKI: People
have in their head things like
1500, 1600 SAT scores. And so a

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student that doesn't have
that level and maybe has
like a 1200 SAT may say,

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you know what, I'm not
going to submit that
information to the university.

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But then when we go in
and contextually evaluate
that student, and we see
that they're in the 99th

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percentile of their high
school with that score, that's
a very meaningful figure.

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PAUL SOLMAN: Moreover, the
average high school grade has
risen over time, shrinking

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the grade range, so-called grade
inflation. As a result, grades
can mean less than they used to.

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MIGUEL WASIELEWSKI: So while
they may have had that 4.0 GPA,
they're on the lower end of the

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standardized scores. And
that helps us to be able
to understand that maybe
the student is going to

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benefit from some resources
that we have available here.

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PAUL SOLMAN: Like what?

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MIGUEL WASIELEWSKI: Things
like being able to get
placed into programs that
puts you with mentors,

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being able to sit down
with other students
and get assistance,
assistance with writing,

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assistance with tutoring for
classes that they're attending.

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PAUL SOLMAN: At the
outreach nonprofit
Breakthrough Central Texas,

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they provide such help to
low-income students with
college dreams early on.

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KENDRA STRANGE: In fifth grade,
we go into schools across
Central Texas and we say,

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hey, are you the first in
your family to go to college?
Are you from a traditionally

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underserved background?
Then we want to help
you on your journey.

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PAUL SOLMAN: Again,
Breakthrough's Kendra Strange.

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KENDRA STRANGE: We recognize
that food insecurity,
housing insecurity,

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mental health support,
students can't think about
performing well in school

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if they're not eating. And
so we support our students
with wraparound services.

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PAUL SOLMAN: Students
like high school senior
Samuel Bautista-Zamora.

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SAMUEL BAUTISTA-ZAMORA, Student:
My parents migrated from
Mexico. I think they barely

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graduated middle school, and
they were just like, we really
can't help you with this.

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PAUL SOLMAN: He worried
about taking the SAT because:

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SAMUEL BAUTISTA-ZAMORA:
Well, SAT plays everybody
in the -- puts everybody in

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the same field technically,
but it's like some might
have more resources.

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Some might pay for private
tutors, which, unfortunately,
we don't have that luxury.

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So, we -- I had to look
for my own resources,

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spend time while balancing
a job, taking care of my
siblings, and still trying to

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do extracurriculars to
boost my resume to be able
to get to these schools
without these SAT scores.

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PAUL SOLMAN: But Bautista-Zamora
took the test, got a
1060 the first time,

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then 1160, then 1310, but that
last one was too late, so he
submitted no scores, figuring:

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SAMUEL BAUTISTA-ZAMORA:
My extracurriculars and my
grades reflected better.

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PAUL SOLMAN: And he
got into U.T. Austin.

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High school junior
Terrance Taylor Johnson
is looking at U.T. too.

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TERRANCE TAYLOR JOHNSON,
Student: I think my
chances are pretty good.

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I just need to focus on my
test scores more. I averaged
1080 on the -- I mean,

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1060 on the first run,
and so I need to do
better on the next one.

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PAUL SOLMAN: How did you
feel during the test? Did
you -- were you nervous?
Were you not nervous?

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TERRANCE TAYLOR JOHNSON: I was
nervous because, on the PSAT,
I had got an 830. But then,

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as soon as I saw my test
score, I was actually pretty
happy how high it jumped.

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PAUL SOLMAN: Jumped just above
the national average of 1050.

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Back on campus at U.T.,
freshman Aniya Matthews,

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who arrived here with
a relatively low score
for Austin, 1090.

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ANIYA MATTHEWS, College
Student: Some of my peers have
thousand-dollar tutors they get

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for their SATs. Now, me,
I come from a low-income
background, so there
wasn't no help on that SAT.

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PAUL SOLMAN: What were you
applying for your major?

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ANIYA MATTHEWS: I wanted
to be a medical laboratory
scientist. But thank God I

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didn't get into that, because I
realize that I do not like STEM.

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PAUL SOLMAN: So the fact
that they discouraged
you from what you were

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originally going to go into
it, maybe on the basis of
your SAT, was a good thing?

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ANIYA MATTHEWS: Yes, but I
feel like, though, I feel
like, when it comes to

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some students who have maybe a
lower score who genuinely have
a passion and want to go into,

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like, engineering, I do feel
as though they definitely
don't have that shot sometimes.

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PAUL SOLMAN: And thus the
question colleges face
with requiring tests: Are
they more or less likely

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to discourage the disadvantaged
from pursuing their passion or
even applying, weighed against

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signals that could help
with admission, lead to
savvier placement, and
more resources to succeed?

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For the "PBS NewsHour," Paul
Solman in Central Texas.