LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon University no longer requires standardized test results for financial aid.

The change the La Grande-based university implemented benefits incoming students and their families, especially those from marginalized communities. The university now will determine scholarships and merit-based awards based on students’ grades rather than ACT or SAT scores.

The school’s Admissions Director Genesis Meaderds said in a press release becoming test-blind makes EOU’s admissions process smoother and easier to navigate for prospective students.

“EOU has been test-optional for years for admissions,” Meaderds said. “The challenge was that we never were test-optional for scholarships and financial aid, so students were being admitted, and then if they didn’t have SATs or ACTs on file they were ineligible for many merit-based scholarships.”

Meaderds met with a committee of university staff — Director of Financial Aid Sandy Henry, the Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Holly Chason, Vice President for Student Affairs Lacy Karpilo and Assistant Athletic Director Mary Barnett — for a year to discuss the change.

The group reviewed studies that found evidence of racial and socioeconomic bias in standardized tests. Test anxiety or learning differences also can impact students’ ability to perform in this setting. The committee also found a student’s high school grade point average is actually the best indicator of college success.

“Through EOU’s internal analysis on incoming students,” EOU spokesperson Vicky Hart explained, “high school GPA remained the strongest predictor of student success, as defined by year-over-year retention, even after controlling for other variables including but not limited to gender, age, race/ethnicity, income and standardized test scores.”

Hart said the committee submitted its recommendations to university President Tom Insko for approval.

“Getting this changed for financial aid is a big deal because now students can receive aid just based on their GPA from high school,” Meaderds said. “Students love that because many of them just don’t take those tests.”

Meaderds listed barriers to testing that the pandemic exacerbated. Many students had to travel out of state to a testing center, pay significant fees or acquire transportation in order to take an SAT or ACT placement test. Meaderds noted, though, that EOU began the process of going test-blind before the COVID-19 pandemic made standardized testing even more difficult to access.

“It wasn’t a COVID question, it was a student access question,” she said in the press release. “As an access to excellence institution, EOU now has a very simple process: they apply, send transcripts and get an admissions decision, then they automatically are eligible for aid.”

Admissions directors from every university in Oregon met last January to release a statement that none of the institutions would require SAT scores for admission. EOU has now stepped up that commitment, no longer requiring test scores even for the most selective scholarships. Karpilo, the vice president for student affairs at EOU, said the action is in line with the university’s strategic framework for expanding student access, opportunity and completion.

“By removing entrance exams from our admission and financial aid considerations, we expect to increase the number of highly qualified students at EOU,” she said.

Meaderds added it has been “amazing” to communicate directly with parents and students about the awards they’re immediately eligible for.

“EOU is continuing what we always strive for — providing access to higher education,” she continued. “With such a large portion of our students coming from one or more underserved communities, this is just continuing to live out that aspect of our mission.”