Best Value Colleges Without a Test Requirement
A growing number of colleges no longer require SAT or ACT scores. If a test score is the weakest part of your application, a test-optional school can widen your options, but value still matters. This list ranks them by how many years the earnings premium needs to repay four years of net price.
To be listed, a college must report that it does not require test scores, have at least 500 undergraduates and a graduation rate of 40% or more. 1,083 schools qualify, and we show the best 50. The median payback is 3.2 years, the fastest is 0.3 years, and CUNY Hunter College ranks first. California has the most entries, 16. Median graduate earnings are $62,310.
Policies change between application cycles, and some schools remain test-optional for admission but require scores for certain programs or scholarships. Confirm the current policy on each school’s admissions page.
Even where scores are optional, strong scores can still help with merit aid, so ask the admissions office whether submitting them would change your scholarship offer.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 4-year colleges (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by payback, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- Graduation rate of 40% or higher
- Reports that it does not require SAT or ACT scores
- A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
- Data period
- Payback: years for the earnings premium over a high school graduate in the same state to repay four years of net price (shown only when the premium is at least $2,000).
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Acceptance rate: fall 2024 applicants admitted.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing the top 50 of 1,083 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | CUNY Hunter College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.3 years | $2,984 | $73,236 | 54% | 59% |
| 2 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.3 years | $3,033 | $82,748 | 48% | 72% |
| 3 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 0.3 years | $6,128 | $108,590 | 5% | 97% |
| 4 | CUNY Queens College Queens, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.5 years | $4,195 | $68,713 | 64% | 56% |
| 5 | CUNY City College New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.5 years | $3,776 | $67,740 | 60% | 56% |
| 6 | CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.5 years | $3,203 | $60,020 | 57% | 56% |
| 7 | CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.5 years | $3,148 | $63,353 | 57% | 50% |
| 8 | CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY Public · 4-year | 0.5 years | $3,103 | $62,833 | 58% | 55% |
| 9 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 0.6 years | $14,860 | $127,757 | 4% | 95% |
| 10 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 0.6 years | $13,807 | $136,959 | 4% | 92% |
| 11 | California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 0.6 years | $16,075 | $152,843 | 3% | 94% |
| 12 | California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.7 years | $3,967 | $59,756 | 91% | 53% |
| 13 | Purdue University Northwest Hammond, IN Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.7 years | $6,079 | $73,337 | 72% | 43% |
| 14 | Rice University Houston, TX Private nonprofit · 4-year | 0.7 years | $13,370 | $110,080 | 8% | 95% |
| 15 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI Public · 4-year | 0.9 years | $13,138 | $96,159 | 16% | 93% |
| 16 | University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 4-year | 0.9 years | $13,481 | $96,018 | 11% | 93% |
| 17 | University of Michigan-Dearborn Dearborn, MI Public · 4-year | 0.9 years | $9,492 | $77,294 | 56% | 57% |
| 18 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 0.9 years | $18,809 | $117,419 | 6% | 94% |
| 19 | University of Michigan-Flint Flint, MI Public · 4-year | 0.9 years | $7,007 | $65,600 | 70% | 42% |
| 20 | Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus Portales, NM Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.9 years | $4,904 | $54,827 | 92% | 42% |
| 21 | University of North Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 0.9 years | $6,420 | $62,574 | 84% | 43% |
| 22 | Indiana University-Kokomo Kokomo, IN Public · 4-year | 0.9 years | $3,968 | $54,618 | 86% | 45% |
| 23 | California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $6,555 | $63,753 | 91% | 70% |
| 24 | The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $4,831 | $53,888 | 94% | 50% |
| 25 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $13,760 | $89,614 | 85% | 67% |
| 26 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC Public · 4-year | 1.0 years | $11,655 | $81,033 | 15% | 92% |
| 27 | California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $4,564 | $55,441 | 94% | 55% |
| 28 | California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $9,320 | $72,596 | 97% | 47% |
| 29 | California State University-Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.0 years | $5,652 | $59,109 | 94% | 50% |
| 30 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.0 years | $15,846 | $101,204 | 6% | 93% |
| 31 | Mount Carmel College of Nursing Columbus, OH Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.0 years | $10,420 | $79,807 | 84% | 64% |
| 32 | University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.1 years | $12,470 | $83,130 | 27% | 87% |
| 33 | Oakland University Rochester Hills, MI Public · 4-year | 1.1 years | $9,120 | $68,708 | 88% | 57% |
| 34 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.1 years | $21,590 | $115,519 | 4% | 96% |
| 35 | California State University-Stanislaus Turlock, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.1 years | $6,067 | $58,952 | 98% | 56% |
| 36 | Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI Public · 4-year | 1.1 years | $14,182 | $84,560 | 92% | 68% |
| 37 | Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO Public · 4-year | 1.1 years | $16,298 | $93,514 | 73% | 64% |
| 38 | Holy Family University Philadelphia, PA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.1 years | $13,143 | $82,892 | 71% | 61% |
| 39 | Cal Poly Maritime Academy Vallejo, CA Public · 4-year | 1.1 years | $20,555 | $108,757 | 95% | 63% |
| 40 | University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $12,548 | $77,677 | 9% | 93% |
| 41 | California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $7,021 | $59,664 | 93% | 57% |
| 42 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $10,974 | $72,839 | 77% | 61% |
| 43 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $16,665 | $90,662 | 31% | 86% |
| 44 | California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $7,000 | $59,992 | 95% | 56% |
| 45 | New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.2 years | $16,504 | $91,874 | 65% | 73% |
| 46 | Ferris State University Big Rapids, MI Public · 4-year | 1.2 years | $8,624 | $64,721 | 91% | 47% |
| 47 | Maine Maritime Academy Castine, ME Public · 4-year | 1.2 years | $23,414 | $113,298 | 54% | 60% |
| 48 | Christian Brothers University Memphis, TN Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.2 years | $9,854 | $68,058 | 87% | 55% |
| 49 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 4-year | 1.3 years | $14,355 | $79,628 | 42% | 85% |
| 50 | The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX Public · 4-year · Hispanic-Serving | 1.3 years | $13,951 | $79,176 | 80% | 55% |
States with schools on this list
Browse every college in these states.