Testing, Admissions, and What is Right with American Higher Education🎓🦅
Some semiquincentennial musings
When the 4th day of July rolls around, we citizens of the United States sometimes ponder questions deeper than just where to watch the best fireworks. We think of patriotism and pride, and even the most cynical among us contemplates what really makes America great. And as we approach our 250th anniversary, at a time when federal policies often seem inimical to our institutions of higher education, we should all take a moment to appreciate how important our colleges and universities are.
Recent estimates suggest that at least 100,000 international students took the SAT last year, mostly in China, India, South Korea, and Canada but with a long tail that extends into roughly 170 countries. A sizable but likely smaller number took the ACT abroad as well. While these combined test takers represent a small sliver of the total number of annual SAT and ACT administrations, they carry outsize influence for two important reasons.
First, we should appreciate that students across the world take the SAT & ACT when mainly colleges and universities within the U.S. use these scores for admissions purposes. Americans may struggle to reconcile data about our international rankings when it comes to health care, elementary school literacy, or men’s soccer prowess (fingers crossed), but we have nothing to be ashamed of regarding higher education. Many countries are building out their own impressive university systems , yet American colleges and universities attract many of the world’s best and brightest. If this is a culture war, we’re all winners.
Second, these applicants from abroad invigorate and, in a very real way, subsidize American higher education. In the face of a global pandemic, domestic debate about the value of college, and even federal efforts to dissuade and deport international students, they keep coming. Our flawed, frayed college system is clearly doing something right.
The international impact of outstanding American higher education is something to be very proud of. However, even rabid opponents of standardized admissions testing have to wonder how much of that quality can be attributed to the SAT & ACT. After all, didn’t Harvard adopt the SAT way back in the 1930’s to assess applicants on education and ability rather than wealth and influence? America the Beautiful is at its most pulchritudinous when the myth of the meritocracy manifests as shining reality.
Advancement through hard work and ability is nothing less than the American dream. This is the dream that drives so many students around the world to strive for American colleges and, just maybe, the reason so many American school still–even during the test-optional era–rely on SAT & ACT scores. After all, hard work and ability (plus practice and coaching) are the only sure ways to improve test scores, right?
Would it be going too far to suggest that not just our colleges but our college admissions tests may be seen as pure microcosms of the American Dream? I’ve been posing this question every year around this time since 2014 and still feel that we find healthy evidence of that vaunted American exceptionalism in and around our higher education system.
I invite you ponder the same question as you enjoy your Independence Day BBQ. Be sure to let me know what you think. Happy 4th of July!
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