Adjustments to USG Admission Criteria following the Cancelation of SAT and ACT Testing
Effective March 19, 2020, the Chancellor has approved the temporary adjustment of admission requirements for USG institutions in response to the cancelation of spring SAT and ACT testing dates. This adjustment is for prospective students seeking admission into associate and baccalaureate programs identified in Board of Regents’ Policy 4.2.1.1, at state colleges, state universities, comprehensive universities and research universities in the USG for the summer or fall 2020 semester. Since Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia have already admitted their freshmen classes, and have students on waiting lists, this change does not affect admissions at those institutions.
In light of the decision made by the College Board and ACT to suspend the availability of testing during the COVID-19 virus pandemic, prospective students applying for admission in fall 2020 will not be required to submit an ACT or SAT score.
A student who has scores is still free to submit them, and an institution should feel free to utilize those scores to decide admission in the established way.
Prospective first year students must meet all other admission requirements, including satisfactory completion of the Required High School Curriculum and all other requested documentation. But, in the absence of ACT/SAT scores, institutions will make admissions eligibility decisions based on the materials that the student has submitted, utilizing a GPA threshold that is at least the following sector minimum rather than the usual Freshman Index (FI) criteria.
| Sector | Minimum unweighted high-school GPA* |
| Research | 3.0 |
| Comprehensive | 2.31 |
| State University | 2.18 |
| State College | 2.0 |
*These thresholds were calculated to be consistent with the established sector FI thresholds, but utilizing only high-school GPA.
Institutions may encounter students who submit their ACT/SAT scores, but who are only admissible by not including those submitted scores. Institutions may admit applicants who would be denied for admission by using their submitted test-scores but can be admitted to the summer or fall 2020 terms using the GPA based criteria.
To recognize that there may be also students whose GPA does not adequately represent their academic record we will increase the availability of presidential exceptions by increasing the available limited admission percentages to:
| Sector | Limited Admission % |
| Research | Increase from 7% to 10% |
| Comprehensive | Increase from 15% to 20% |
| State University | Increase from 20% to 25% |
| State College | Increase from 33% to 40% |
These percentages will be calculated based on Fall 2019 enrollment. We encourage institutions to allow students to submit scores such as Accuplacer, and PSAT to be taken into consideration as part of the presidential exception and limited admission decision.
Institutions may encounter some previously denied applicants who may be admissible under these temporary provisions. Institutions, at their discretion, may reconsider applicants previously denied for admission to the summer or fall 2020 terms.