Colleges That Require the SAT or ACT for 2026–27: All 59 on the Common App, State by State

Of the 1,126 colleges on the Common App's 2026–27 requirements grid, 59 say they always require the SAT or ACT. The famous names are on that list, but they aren't most of it. Twenty-six of the 59 are public universities in three states: 12 in Florida, eight in Georgia and six in Tennessee.

The grid puts every college into one of five test policies, written for US citizens and permanent residents of traditional college age applying full-time:

• Always required: 59
• Sometimes required: 327
• Test flexible: 153
• Never required: 566
• Ignored: 21

"Never required" means you don't have to send a score, and "ignored" means the grid lists the college as ignoring scores. "Sometimes required" and "test flexible" depend on the college, so read its own page for what applies to you. The grid notes that rules can differ for transfer applicants, applicants who aren't US citizens or permanent residents, older applicants and home-schooled applicants, but doesn't spell them out.

The state matters more than the selectivity

In Florida, every one of the 12 state universities on the grid requires a score: the University of Florida, Florida State, the University of South Florida, the University of Central Florida, Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Florida A&M, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Polytechnic, the University of North Florida, the University of West Florida and New College of Florida. Most of the state's private colleges on the grid don't. Florida Tech and Nova Southeastern do, but the University of Miami, Rollins and Stetson say "sometimes", and Eckerd and Tampa say "never".

In Georgia, eight public universities require scores: the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Augusta University, Georgia College & State University, Savannah State and the University of North Georgia. Four other public universities in Georgia on the grid, Georgia Southern, Valdosta State, West Georgia and Clayton State, say "sometimes". Among private colleges in Georgia, only Mercer requires a score. Emory, Spelman, Morehouse and Agnes Scott say "never", and Berry is listed as ignoring scores.

In Tennessee, the four University of Tennessee campuses (Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin and Southern) require scores, as do Memphis and Tennessee State. Austin Peay, the one other public university in Tennessee on the grid, says "test flexible". Vanderbilt, Rhodes, Sewanee and Belmont say "never".

So a student applying to both Georgia Tech and Emory needs a score for Georgia Tech and not for Emory.

The rest of the 59

Eight more public colleges and universities require scores, among them Auburn, Purdue, Ohio State, UT Austin and UT El Paso.

Seventeen are private colleges in the US and Puerto Rico. Nine are among the most selective in the country: Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Johns Hopkins and Georgetown. The others are Florida Tech, Mercer, Nova Southeastern, the University of Dallas, Webb Institute and Mississippi Christian University, and in Puerto Rico, Inter American University and Universidad del Sagrado Corazón.

The last eight are the Air Force Academy and seven universities outside the US: the American University of Beirut, the Lebanese American University, Edinburgh Napier, Esade, IE University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Global College and the University of Limerick.

Most of the most selective don't require scores

Of the 56 colleges in our data that are on the grid and admit fewer than one applicant in five, 39 say "never required". Ten always require a score, the nine private colleges above plus Georgia Tech. Five say "sometimes" (Carnegie Mellon, Grinnell, the University of Miami, UNC Chapel Hill and Wesleyan), and two say "test flexible" (Northwestern and Michigan).

The colleges that brought the SAT back, and the score ranges their admitted students report, are in a separate post. If every college on your list is optional, whether to send your score is its own decision.

The 21 that ignore scores

At 21 colleges, the grid lists test scores as ignored. Pitzer is the most selective of them in our data. The others include Washington State, the University of San Diego, Stonehill, Merrimack, Berry and the University of Indianapolis.

Before you decide which tests to take this fall, put your whole list in and see, free, what each college published about its early round and where your score sits. The answer across your whole list is the paid document.

Test policies are from the Common App's 2026–27 first-year deadlines, fees and requirements grid (updated September 25, 2026). Admit rates are federal figures from College Scorecard.