Jul 30, 2014 11:08 AM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Montclair State University in New Jersey announced Tuesday that it has adopted a test-optional admissions policy for all applicants seeking undergraduate admission.

Effective this fall, the school will revise its freshman admissions protocol, placing primary emphasis on an applicant's high school grade point average (GPA) combined with close attention to the specific courses taken. Submission of SAT and ACT scores will no longer be required, although the University will consider these scores should a student choose to submit them.

"As we choose each incoming class, our goal is to assure, to the greatest extent possible, that the students selected for admission are capable of succeeding in the University's rigorous academic programs," said Montclair State University President Susan A. Cole.

Montclair State has grown into a large university, admitting approximately 3,000 freshmen each year from a pool of more than 11,000 applicants. Over the past decade, the University has reviewed its admissions criteria to determine how the various factors considered in the admissions process track with student retention, academic success and graduation rates.

According to Cole, the University has verified that the most powerful predictor of college success is a student's performance in high school and, in particular, the high school GPA and the rigor of the courses taken. School officials believe a student's high school GPA is three times as powerful as the SAT for demonstrating a student's likely performance at Montclair State.

"In addition to being a better predictor of academic success, we are certain that the new admissions protocol will better support our mission of serving a talented and striving student population that reflects the full socio-economic and ethnic diversity of New Jersey," Cole said. "Focusing on an individual student's actual accomplishments in high school, no matter which community the student grew up in or which high school he or she attended, will yield a highly diverse freshman class characterized by determination, ambition and the demonstrated willingness to strive for success in Montclair State's academically rigorous environment."

Montclair State is the first New Jersey public university to make this change, giving students the option of not submitting SAT and Act scores. It joins more than 800 of the nation's leading colleges and universities, a group that constitutes about 30 percent of the nation's schools that grant baccalaureate degrees and that includes Temple University, Wake Forest University, Wesleyan University, University of Arizona and George Mason University.

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