The ACT recently announced that it will offer the ACT online on national test dates for test takers. The organization has provided the test online for state and district testers since 2016 and international test takers since 2018.
"Our decision to offer students the choice to take the ACT their way, whether that's online or on paper, means that students can choose the testing experience that best suits their unique learning style and preferences," Janet Godwin, CEO of the ACT, said in a blog post. "The online option is an important step toward expanding equitable and inclusive testing experiences for all students."
What is Changing?
Online testing will be available in December 2023 as a limited pilot for 5,000 testers at specific test centers. Notably, paper testing will continue to be available.
Score reporting will be the same regardless of testing mode, and the release of score reports will remain consistent for both testing options. ACT testing fees for online and paper and pencil options will stay the same.
Although the test itself is not changing, the decision to offer students to take the ACT their way, whether online or on paper, gives them a choice in the testing experience that best fits their learning style and preferences.
ACT’s online option provides additional accessibility features, including support for screen reader users, text-to-speech functionality, zoom, and answer masking. “These are not ‘features’ for many of our students but necessities for equal access. By offering an online option, we can help more students meet their academic and career success goals,” the ACT said in the release.
Registration for the first online ACT will open this July. And the organization stated that it will expand its operational capability for its online offering through 2024.
Will Online ACT Access Affect Admission Requirements?
Many colleges and universities recently decided to do away with standardized testing requirements, such as the SAT and ACT. Currently, over three-quarters of colleges are not requiring either of these tests for admission this fall, and more than 400 Ph.D. programs have dropped the GRE.
This trend was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic when many students could not access testing sites. But even as more colleges follow this lead, the public believes grades should be the most influential factor in admission decisions.
Whether test-optional policies will become permanent across the board remains to be determined. Some schools have since reinstated testing requirements in admissions. For example, Purdue University will reinstate its ACT or SAT requirement for the 2024-2025 academic year.
The world is changing, and new digital access to online ACTs may push colleges to reconsider the importance of SAT and ACT testing requirements. But even if a college doesn’t require these tests for admission, many institutions still encourage students to include these scores in their applications.
