Best Test-Optional U.S. Colleges
CollegeSimply ranks 1045 four-year colleges that do not require SAT or ACT scores for admission. These are the highest-ranked test-optional schools in the U.S., sorted by academic quality and student outcomes. Policies can vary by applicant and year, so confirm requirements on each school's website before applying.
Princeton University leads our 2027 test-optional rankings, ranked #1 nationally. The top rated public option is University of Michigan Ann Arbor. Also highly ranked: Duke University, Stanford University and Harvard University.
Without test scores, your GPA, activities, recommendation letters, and essays carry more weight. Compare acceptance rates, tuition, and enrollment across the full list below. Filter by state or sort by selectivity to build your list. You can also explore matches by GPA on our college search by GPA. See our ranking methodology for how schools are scored.
Spelman College
- Private 4 Year
- Atlanta, GA
-
5.0 | 2 reviews
- Feb 1 application deadline
Spelman is a highly selective historically Black women's college known for undergraduate sciences and the liberal arts. Most undergrads live on the residential campus in Atlanta's West End, part of the Atlanta University Center.
- SAT Range 1108-1320
- Avg GPA 3.75
- Acceptance Rate 25%
- Net Price $40,354
Elizabethtown College
- Private 4 Year
- Elizabethtown, PA
-
| 0 reviews
Elizabethtown is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate occupational therapy, business, and education. The residential campus is in a small central Pennsylvania borough and has historic Church of the Brethren ties.
- SAT Range 1105-1310
- Avg GPA 3.66
- Acceptance Rate 78%
- Net Price $27,760
University of Missouri Columbia
- Public 4 Year
- Columbia, MO
-
4.0 | 2 reviews
Mizzou is a large public university known for undergraduate journalism and agriculture. Columbia is a Midwestern college town built around the campus.
- SAT Range 1150-1330
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.61
- Acceptance Rate 78%
- Net Price $22,169
Roberts Wesleyan University
- Private 4 Year
- Rochester, NY
-
| 0 reviews
- Aug 25 application deadline
Roberts Wesleyan is a private Christian university known for undergraduate nursing and teacher education. The suburban campus sits outside Rochester in western New York.
- SAT Range 990-1305
- Avg GPA 3.6
- Acceptance Rate 71%
- Net Price $23,275
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus
- Public 4 Year
- Denver, CO
-
3.0 | 5 reviews
- Aug 1 application deadline
CU Denver is a public university known for undergraduate architecture, business, and engineering. The urban campuses include downtown Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.
- SAT Range 980-1220
- Predicted Avg GPA 3.46
- Acceptance Rate 75%
- Net Price $14,831
St. Joseph's University New York
- Private 4 Year
- Brooklyn, NY
-
| 0 reviews
St. Joseph's New York is a private Catholic university known for undergraduate nursing and education. The urban campus is in Brooklyn.
- SAT Range 1110-1270
- Avg GPA 3.2
- Acceptance Rate 72%
- Net Price $19,422
Lake Forest College
- Private 4 Year
- Lake Forest, IL
-
| 0 reviews
- Feb 15 application deadline
Lake Forest is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate economics, business, and biology. The residential campus sits in a North Shore suburb of Chicago near Lake Michigan.
- SAT Range 1190-1393
- Avg GPA 3.62
- Acceptance Rate 57%
- Net Price $31,225
Wagner College
- Private 4 Year
- Staten Island, NY
-
| 0 reviews
- Feb 15 application deadline
Wagner is a private liberal arts college known for undergraduate nursing, theater, and business. The hilltop campus on Staten Island overlooks New York Harbor.
- SAT Range 1190-1290
- Avg GPA 3.5
- Acceptance Rate 88%
- Net Price $28,033
Salve Regina University
- Private 4 Year
- Newport, RI
-
4.0 | 2 reviews
Salve Regina is a private Catholic university known for undergraduate nursing and historic preservation. The Newport campus overlooks the Atlantic and incorporates several Gilded Age mansions.
- SAT Range 1160-1330
- Avg GPA 3.52
- Acceptance Rate 68%
- Net Price $38,307
Miami University Oxford
- Public 4 Year
- Oxford, OH
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
- Feb 1 application deadline
Miami University is a public university known for undergraduate business and education. The residential red-brick campus anchors the small college town of Oxford.
- SAT Range 1220-1390
- Avg GPA 3.85
- Acceptance Rate 75%
- Net Price $28,229
Saint Mary's College of California
- Private 4 Year
- Moraga, CA
-
| 0 reviews
- Jan 15 application deadline
Saint Mary's is a private Catholic college known for undergraduate business and a Great Books liberal arts program. The residential campus lies in the hills of Moraga in the East Bay.
- SAT Range 1070-1253
- Avg GPA 3.6
- Acceptance Rate 87%
- Net Price $35,332
Le Moyne College
- Private 4 Year
- Syracuse, NY
-
| 0 reviews
- Feb 1 application deadline
Le Moyne is a private Jesuit college known for undergraduate nursing, business, and biology. The suburban campus sits just outside downtown Syracuse.
- SAT Range 1160-1330
- Avg GPA 3.55
- Acceptance Rate 83%
- Net Price $23,702
Maryland Institute College of Art
- Private 4 Year
- Baltimore, MD
-
| 0 reviews
- Feb 1 application deadline
MICA is a private art and design college known for undergraduate illustration, graphic design, and fine arts. The urban campus lies in Baltimore's Station North Arts District.
- SAT Range 1078-1305
- Avg GPA 3.47
- Acceptance Rate 77%
- Net Price $47,834
Augustana University
- Private 4 Year
- Sioux Falls, SD
-
5.0 | 1 reviews
Augustana is a private university known for undergraduate nursing, education, and business. The residential campus is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota's largest city.
- SAT Range 1150-1370
- Avg GPA 3.76
- Acceptance Rate 68%
- Net Price $24,977
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Prescott
- Private 4 Year
- Prescott, AZ
-
4.0 | 2 reviews
Embry-Riddle Prescott is a private university known for undergraduate aeronautical science, aerospace engineering, and aviation. The mountain campus sits outside downtown Prescott in Arizona high country.
- SAT Range 1140-1370
- Avg GPA 3.82
- Acceptance Rate 77%
- Net Price $41,864
Northwest University
- Private 4 Year
- Kirkland, WA
-
| 0 reviews
- Aug 1 application deadline
Northwest University is a private Christian university known for undergraduate nursing, ministry, and business. The suburban campus sits in Kirkland east of Seattle.
- SAT Range 1040-1350
- Avg GPA 3.41
- Acceptance Rate 83%
- Net Price $24,251
Endicott College
- Private 4 Year
- Beverly, MA
-
| 0 reviews
- Feb 15 application deadline
Endicott is a private college known for undergraduate hospitality management, nursing, and business. The oceanfront campus sits along the North Shore coastline in Beverly.
- SAT Range 1193-1340
- Avg GPA 3.55
- Acceptance Rate 71%
- Net Price $41,394
State University of New York at New Paltz
- Public 4 Year
- New Paltz, NY
-
| 0 reviews
- Apr 1 application deadline
SUNY New Paltz is a public university known for undergraduate fine arts, graphic design, and education. The campus sits in a Hudson Valley college town near the Shawangunk Mountains.
- SAT Range 1170-1340
- Avg GPA 3.6
- Acceptance Rate 62%
- Net Price $18,051