Regional campuses pilot test-optional admissions policy

The University of Pittsburgh’s Bradford campus will be SAT and ACT test optional for new students entering this fall to help them with any constraints or pressures they may face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pilot program, which takes effect immediately, also includes two of Pitt’s other regional campuses in Greensburg and Johnstown. Students applying for admission to any regional campus this fall will have the option to include or not include their SAT or ACT score as part of their application process. Transfer students are exempt from submitting SAT/ACT scores.

“Given the extraordinary events surrounding COVID 19, including the cancelation and postponement of various SAT and ACT tests, institutions must give our prospective students and their families more flexibility in the application process,” said Dr. James Baldwin, vice president for enrollment management at Pitt-Bradford. “We believe that the high school GPA and other supporting documentation can provide us with the information needed to make an informed admissions decision.”

Baldwin explained that the admissions decision is based on the whole applicant.

“The most important factor that we have found is a student’s high school grade point average. That gives us at least three years of academic work to consider. SAT and ACT test scores are secondary considerations.”

The Pittsburgh campus is not test-optional.

The Pitt Success Pell Match Program, which matches a student’s Federal Pell Grant dollar for dollar, will still be available to qualifying students, regardless of whether they submit SAT or ACT scores.

However, students applying to Pitt-Bradford who don’t submit an SAT or ACT score will not be considered for a merit scholarship.

“SAT and ACT scores factor into our merit scholarship decisions,” Baldwin said. “Without the scores, merit-based scholarships are not available. If students have scores and want to include them for consideration, we encourage them to do so.”

Students with an SAT of at least 1030 or an ACT of 20 may be eligible for merit scholarships.

Additionally, students who wish to be directly admitted into Pitt-Bradford’s Associate of Science in Nursing program are required to submit test scores.

For more information, visit Pitt-Bradford’s website at www.upb.pitt.edu.

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