UMSL is implementing a temporary, test-optional admission process to benefit students who’ve been impacted by cancelations of the ACT or SAT examinations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by August Jennewein)

The University of Missouri–St. Louis is implementing a temporary test-optional admission process for fall 2020 applicants effective immediately.

This decision is due to the cancelation of the ACT exam in April and SAT exam in May and the uncertainty of testing options this summer.

The university has a long-held commitment to ensuring that members of the community have access to high-quality education, and administrators did not want the challenges in testing created by the COVID-19 pandemic to stand as a barrier to students wishing to pursue a college degree.

“We have a few hundred pending applicants for fall 2020 who have not submitted test scores or were working toward improving their ACT score to meet our selective admission requirements,” said Alan Byrd, vice provost for enrollment management. “Many of these students were planning to test this spring to gain entry into UMSL. Consequently, we do not want to deny access to these students because of their lack of access to testing.”

All new applicants and pending applicants for fall 2020 will have the option to be evaluated and receive an admission decision from UMSL without submitting an ACT or SAT score. Applicants must have a high school GPA of 3.0 or higher and have successfully completed UMSL’s required 17 high school core curriculum units to be considered for admission through the new test-optional process.

Students who have previously been denied admission to UMSL for fall 2020 will also have an option to appeal and be re-evaluated under the new process.

Students seeking more information on the temporary admission process or who want to submit an application can visit the Office of Admissions at admissions.umsl.edu or call 1-314-516-5451 or 1-888-GO-2-UMSL.