As the national debate grows on whether higher education institutions should reinstate ACT and SAT scores for undergraduate admission requirements, several local universities are holding off.

Texas Tech has been test-optional since 2020, but a Tech official recently told the Avalanche-Journal that the university is evaluating its position.

In a statement to the Avalanche-Journal, the university stated:

“Texas Tech University has been approved to remain test optional through Fall 2025. As the university continues to evaluate the role of standardized testing in admissions, no decision has been made regarding reinstating ACT/SAT score requirements.”

This discussion about reinstating test requirements comes after an Ivy League school — Dartmouth — announced that it would reinstate its SAT and ACT test score requirements, according to USA Today. But Dartmouth is largely a lone wolf among its peers, as Harvard, Cornell and Columbia waived the requirement this admission year.

Dartmouth — along with Texas Tech and other universities and colleges around the nation — suspended its ACT/SAT requirements for admission due to the COVID-19 pandemic when students couldn’t easily access testing sites.

It was during this time that the college entrance exams faced difficulties in reflecting social and economic inequalities, therefore giving disadvantaged students even further disadvantages from getting into college.

However, after an internal study, Dartmouth said in a statement that “low-income students appear to withhold test scores even in cases where providing the test score would be a significant positive signal to admissions.”

Simply put, the scores allow the university to identify high-achieving students from disadvantaged communities. They also allow universities to get a holistic student profile so that the institution can consider the student for admission — something Texas Tech already does.

Texas Tech is not the only university in West Texas to remain test-optional as of right now.

According to spokespersons from Lubbock Christian University and West Texas A&M, both universities remain test-optional. LCU stated that it only requires test scores to admit students to the university’s honors college.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech, West Texas A&M universities to keep ACT, SAT test optional