By Fall 2027, every Ivy League college except Columbia will require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores.
This is a significant return to a focus on academic excellence. Research from Harvard and other colleges has found that SAT and ACT scores are among the best predictors of college success and help identify talented students from less-resourced backgrounds who might otherwise be overlooked.
In August 2023 — before any Ivy had reinstated testing — Harvard-based research lab Opportunity Insights, led by Economics professor Raj Chetty, published research by Chetty, David Deming (now Dean of Harvard College), and Brown professor John Friedman using data from more than 400 institutions and roughly 3.5 million students per year.
Opportunity Insights’ research shows that “SAT and ACT scores have substantial predictive power for academic success in college” and “students from different socioeconomic backgrounds who have comparable SAT/ACT scores receive similar grades in college.” It also points to standardized tests as “an important tool to identify promising students at less-well-resourced high schools, particularly when paired with other academic credentials.”
Within a year of these findings, half the Ivy League reached similar conclusions:
Yale found “test scores are the single greatest predictor” of future Yale grades, even after controlling for household income and other demographic factors.
Brown found “academic outcomes — whether measured by the fraction of grades that are high or by the fraction of students who struggle academically — are strongly correlated with test scores…across all subgroups, including within groups from less-advantaged vs. more-advantaged high schools, and for HUG vs. non-HUG students,” referring to students from historically underrepresented groups.
Dartmouth found scores are “an important predictor of a student's success in Dartmouth's curriculum…regardless of a student's background or family income” and “especially helpful in identifying students from less-resourced backgrounds who…might otherwise be missed in a test-optional environment.
Why do standardized tests often help the very students many assume they hurt?
As Chetty explained when Harvard reinstated testing, “Critics correctly note that standardized tests are not an unbiased measure of students’ qualifications,” but other measures — including recommendation letters, extracurriculars, and essays — are “even more prone” to bias.
At well-resourced high schools, transcripts with advanced coursework, stellar recommendation letters, and academically-focused activities often provide abundant evidence they can handle a school’s coursework. At less-resourced schools, those signals can be harder to parse: students have fewer options for advanced courses, teachers who are stretched thin may write more generic recommendation letters, and students' responsibilities outside school may demonstrate leadership, but not necessarily academic preparation.
Yale highlighted an upside of requiring test scores for students from less-resourced schools: “When students attending these high schools include a score with their application – even a score below Yale’s median range — they give the [admissions] committee greater confidence that they are likely to achieve academic success in college.”
In other words, the Ivies are converging on two conclusions that have become increasingly difficult to ignore since the pandemic: academic performance can be measured, even if imperfectly, and the alternatives to measuring it are not automatically more fair. Reinstating SAT/ACT requirements helps Harvard and its peers find students most likely to succeed there while casting a wider net for talent across socioeconomic backgrounds, advancing their mission of academic excellence.
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Q: Why are there so many long articles in The Crimson this week?
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FYIs
NSF Briefly Put “Future Awards” on Hold for Harvard and Peers, Then Removed the Note
Nature reports that on April 9, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Award Management (OAM), placed on hold future awards to four universities: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Duke, who all received a “Future Awards to Organization on Hold” note in an NSF database.
On May 28 — the day after Nature published its May 27 story — Nature says the OAM removed that “hold” note for Duke, Harvard, and Yale, but not Princeton.
A few grants for researchers at Harvard and Duke have also been released since May 27, according to NSF staff members who spoke to Nature.
According to an internal NSF list obtained by Nature, OAM has stalled 33 research proposals across the four universities; while OAM takes an average of 10 days to finalize grants, proposals involving these schools were held for an average of 91 days.
In April 2025, the federal government froze more than $2.2 billion in Harvard research grants. Harvard sued, and in early September 2025, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled for Harvard when she issued a permanent injunction barring the freeze and similar actions. The case is now on appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
A Georgetown administrative law professor told Nature that the hold could violate Burroughs’s injunction.
Results for Board of Overseers and HAA Elected Director Elections Announced
The newly elected members of the Board of Overseers are: Arti Garg (PhD ’08), Teresa Hillary Clarke (AB ‘84, JD ’89, MBA ’89), Nadine Burke Harris (MPH ’02), Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena (LLM ’98), Philip Harrison (AB ‘86, MAR ’93), Salvo Arena (LLM ’00), and Clive Chang (MBA ‘11).
Arena will serve a three-year term and Chang will serve a two-year term to complete the unexpired terms of departed Overseer Sylvia Mathews Burwell (AB ’87), who will be joining Harvard Corporation in July, and Vikas Sukhatme (MD ’79). The other five will serve full six-year terms.
For the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA), the six newly elected directors — each serving a three-year term — are: Allison Charney Epstein (AB ’89), Mia Esther Alpert (AB ’99), Jeffrey Tignor (AB ’96), James “Jimmy” Biblarz (AB ‘14, JD ’21, PhD ’23), Medha Gargeya (AB ‘14, JD ’19), David Lefer (AB ’93).
Three of the five candidates recommended by 1636 Forum — Harrison, Arena, and Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena — were elected, along with five of the six recommended candidates: Epstein, Alpert, Biblarz, Gargeya, and Lefer.
Commencement 2026: Graduate Student Union Strike Protests, Mayor Wu Withdraws From HLS Speech, and Ames Prize Honors Pro-Palestine Activism
Harvard’s 375th Commencement exercises for the Class of 2026 took place on May 28, capping a week of diploma ceremonies and school-specific events.
Entering its sixth week — and now the longest strike in Harvard Graduate Students Union – United Auto Workers (HGSU-UAW) history — the union’s picketing and protests were a visible and audible part of Commencement week.
At the May 26 Baccalaureate address, more than 70 union members protested, including during President Alan Garber’s (AB ‘76, PhD ‘82) remarks to graduating seniors.
Some seniors called the protests “disruptive,” noting “it definitely took away from the main speech, especially Garber’s speech,” while others thought HGSU-USAW was “mindful” of students and “understood that we were celebrating.”
The night before Harvard Law School Class Day, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (AB ’07, JD ‘12) withdrew as the speaker after HGSU-UAW urged her not to cross its picket line. Wu’s office said she was “deeply disappointed” not to attend having spent the past week trying to reach a compromise with HGSU-UAW that would allow her to participate while remaining a “strong ally of the labor movement.”
Also at the Baccalaureate activities, Harvard College student program marshals awarded the Richard Glover Ames Memorial Award — given to “unsung heroes” of the graduating class — to two seniors, including for one student’s “pro-Palestine activism” as co-founder of the unrecognized student group Jews for Palestine. In announcing the award, a marshal said the student had faced discipline from the “punitive” Ad Board, the disciplinary body of Harvard College.
Jews for Palestine was one of the student groups present during the University Hall occupation. The Ames Memorial Award is determined by the Senior Class Committee.
At Harvard Medical School’s graduation, a student speaker said that students were “told to stay silent as Gaza unfolded before us, funded by our own tax dollars, materially supported by this University’s own endowment, and ideologically justified by those who taught us better.”
Harvard Moves To Compel Deposition Testimony in Gino Lawsuit — Including From Former HBS Professor Benjamin Edelman
On May 26, Harvard filed a motion to compel “non-privileged” deposition testimony in former Harvard Business School (HBS) professor Francesca Gino’s lawsuit against the University, which challenges Harvard’s decision to revoke her tenure and terminate her employment following an HBS investigation into alleged research misconduct.
Harvard is seeking additional deposition testimony from Gino, Gino’s husband Gregory Burd, and former HBS professor and attorney Benjamin Edelman (AB ‘02, AM ‘02, JD ‘05, PhD ‘07) who Harvard says worked with Gino on public-facing materials related to the dispute and whom Gino engaged as counsel in July 2023.
Now, Harvard’s motion focuses on what it describes as forensic evidence that on September 23, 2023, Gino (or someone acting on her behalf) created a backdated version of a dataset file and overwrote an earlier version — after Gino publicly claimed Harvard failed to identify or consider an exculpatory dataset she described as the “July 16 OG File.”
Harvard argues it needs compelled testimony from Gino, Burd, and Edelman to determine who created and backdated the file and how, but says deposition questioning on those topics has been refused or blocked based on claims of attorney-client privilege and attorney work product.
In Harvard Law Professor Larry Lessig’s podcast series criticizing Harvard’s case against Gino, he shared in the final episode that Harvard’s attorneys have also “tried to force me to turn over my emails,” and depose him because he would have “evidence to answer the question whether Francesca was guilty.”
FAS Names David Johnston Permanent Dean of Science
Earth and Planetary Sciences professor David Johnston will serve as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) dean of Science, FAS Dean Hopi Hoekstra announced.
Johnston has served as interim dean since January, after former Dean of Science Jeff Lichtman stepped down. At the time, Hoekstra invited faculty input on the search for Lichtman’s permanent successor and whether the Division of Science should be split into separate life sciences and physical sciences divisions, which were merged in 2007.
Hoekstra’s announcement this week did not address whether the Science Division will be split.
More News
More News at Harvard
The Crimson: “A Month Without TFs: How HGSU-UAW’s Strike Reshaped the End of the Spring Semester”
The Crimson: “Harvard's Viewpoint Diversity Push Turns to Faculty Hiring”
The Crimson: “After Gay, Harvard Corporation Pledged Transparency. Its Biggest Decisions Still Move Privately.”
The Crimson: “Who Does Harvard Call When Business Isn’t Booming? The Business School.”
The Crimson: “One Year In, David Deming Projects Stability and Optimism”
The Crimson: “We Analyzed a Decade’s Worth of Harvard Grades. Here’s What We Found, Department By Department.”
The Crimson: “Harvard’s Institute of Politics Searches for a New Director — and a Way Back”
The Crimson: “Harvard's Kempner Institute Bet Big on AI. Now It Has to Prove Itself.”
The Crimson: “David Parkes Has a Plan for SEAS. His Hardest Decision Still Looms Over It.”
The Crimson: “A New Playbook: How Harvard is Trying to Win Over Trump’s Washington
The Crimson: “As Decades-Long Land Grab Slows, Here's How Harvard's Developments Are Shaping Allston”
The Crimson: “Narvekar Remade Harvard’s Endowment. Trump’s Tax War May Define Whether It Was Enough.”
Washington Free Beacon: “At Commencement, Harvard Acknowledges Its Critics”
The Free Press: “This Harvard Professor Fought Against the Easy A for 50 Years—and Finally Won” — feat. Government professor Harvey Mansfield (AB ’53, PhD ’61)
Harvard Divinity School: “Finding Common Ground: Ric Keller, MRPL '26, on Embracing Difference” — feat. former U.S. Rep. Ric Keller (MRPL ‘26)
Harvard Kennedy School: “Dean Jeremy Weinstein encourages the Class of 2026 to revitalize the technology of democracy in an age of optimization”
Washington Free Beacon: “Harvard Gives $90,000-a-Year Fellowships to Four Anti-Israel Activists”
The Crimson: “Harvard Management Company CEO N.P. “Narv” Narvekar Tells Board He Plans to Retire in 2027”
Harvard Gazette: “Confronting campus antisemitism: “Confronting campus antisemitism: Schools have made progress in calling it out but need to develop a more forceful response, scholars say”
The Crimson: “AI Is Not Our Destiny. You Are.” — op-ed by Harvard economics professor Jason Furman (AB ‘92, PhD ‘04)
The Crimson: “AI Is a Meteor. Don’t Be a Dinosaur.” — op-ed by Harvard computer science professor Boaz Barak
The Crimson: “The Future of the Liberal Arts Looks a Lot Like the Past” — editorial by The Crimson Editorial Board
The Crimson: “The Upside of Being Conservative at Harvard” — op-ed by Sarah Steele (AB ‘18-’26)
The Crimson: “Silence Only Makes the Echo Chamber Louder” — op-ed by Henry Moss IV (AB ’26)
Washington Post: “Harvard’s solution won’t stop runaway A’s. This could.” — op-ed by University of Notre Dame professor Vincent Phillip Muñoz
City Journal: “Harvard’s Grade Inflation Reform Doesn’t Go Far Enough” — op-ed by Manhattan Institute analyst Neetu Arnold
More News Beyond Harvard
Inside Higher Education: “Hundreds of Math Professors Ask UC to Bring Back SAT/ACT Requirements” — more than 1,000 professors have now signed, including 7 of the 9 Chairs of UC mathematics departments
Dartmouth College: “Frank Family Gives $25 Million for Dartmouth Dialogues”
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE): “Faculty Ideology: Measuring faculty viewpoint diversity using campaign contribution data”
Stanford Law School: “Stanford Law School Launches Private Capital Initiative”
Constructive Dialogue Institute: “Can You Measure Constructive Dialogue?”
New York Times: “Student Loan Repayments Are Being Overhauled. What Borrowers Should Know.”
New Yorker: “The Despair of the Professor in the Age of A.I.”
American Enterprise Institute: “How to Reform Scholarly Journals”
The Dartmouth: “‘The worst of both worlds’: FIRE president and 2026 honorary degree recipient Greg Lukianoff condemns the state of higher education at Dartmouth Dialogues event”
Higher Ed Dive: “DOJ lawsuit accuses UCLA of ignoring antisemitism on campus”
University of California: “Statement from UC President Milliken on Department of Justice lawsuit”
Chicago Maroon: “The Decline of the Liberal Arts at UChicago”
Jewish Insider: “New report documents $65 million Qatari campaign to influence U.S. education at all levels”
American Council on Education: “Higher Education Groups Urge Changes to Proposed Federal Accountability Framework”
Stanford Social Innovation Review: “Education and Its Public Purposes” — by University Professor Danielle Allen (PhD ‘02)
Chronicle of Higher Education: “Nicholas Christakis Doesn’t Want to Talk About Halloween” — feat. Yale sociology professor Nicholas Christakis (MD ‘89, MPH ‘89)
USA Today: “University commencement isn't the place for politics” — op-ed by Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier
New York Times: “What 370,000 College Essays Tell Us About A.I.’s Effects on Creativity” — op-ed by Rebecca Winthrop, director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution
Chuck Eesley’s Substack: “Theo Baker’s Stanford Is Real. It Just Isn’t Most of Stanford.” — by Chuck Eesley, Stanford Management Science and Engineering professor