Stanford will resume requiring either the SAT or the ACT for undergraduate admission, beginning with students applying in fall 2025 for admission to the Class of 2030. Stanford will remain test-optional for students applying in fall 2024 for admission to the Class of 2029.

Test scores represent only one part of a holistic review of each applicant to the university, for which academic potential is the primary criterion for admission. Performance on standardized tests is an important predictor of academic performance at Stanford, a review by the faculty Committee on Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid has confirmed. The renewed testing requirement will allow Stanford to consider the fullest array of information in support of each student’s application.

Stanford paused its testing requirement in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning with students applying to the Class of 2025. Since then, undergraduate applicants to Stanford have been welcome to submit test scores but have not been required to do so.

The university is reinstating the test requirement in a manner that will allow all students enough lead time to plan and prepare for testing. Scores from the SAT or ACT will only be required beginning with students applying in fall 2025 for admission to the Class of 2030.

Stanford will continue to review applicants in context, and to consider each piece of an application as part of an integrated and comprehensive whole. More specifically, the university evaluates academic achievement and potential in the context of each student’s background, educational pathway, work and family responsibilities, and other factors. Additional information is available on the Undergraduate Admission website.