Texas’ higher education commissioner signaled last week that the state could expand the use of the conservative-favored Classic Learning Test in public university admissions even though an independent review found far less evidence linking the exam’s scores to college performance than SAT and ACT scores.
In a letter to campus leaders on Thursday, Commissioner Wynn Rosser clarified that universities can immediately consider CLT scores for any applicants who fall outside the top-10% automatic admissions window. While the letter did not alter current statewide rules that currently recognize only the SAT and ACT, it signaled the state’s plan to formally approve the CLT by fall 2028 as a new test option for home school, private school or out-of-state applicants.
Rosser issued the letter one day after the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board voted to send an independent review of the CLT, SAT and ACT to legislative leaders. The board did not vote to approve CLT’s use or change the state’s admissions rules.
The review, required by a law passed last year, did not put the CLT on equal footing with the SAT and ACT.
The Texas A&M Public Policy Research Institute conducted the review of college entrance exams, warning that the three tests were not “equally ready, equally comparable, or equally defensible.”
Researchers found less evidence supporting CLT’s use in statewide admissions, noting that more research was needed on the exam before colleges could rely on those scores in the same way they do the SAT and ACT scores.
The difference was especially stark when examining how well each test’s scores could predict students’ college performance, according to the report. The CLT received 1.4 out of 4 possible points, compared with 3.8 for the ACT and 4 for the SAT.
CLT representatives, however, attributed the low score to the limited amount of Texas data available, saying the review excluded evidence from outside the state.
The CLT submitted evidence covering 259 students at five private Texas universities, while the College Board submitted data covering more than 117,000 students at 14 public universities.
Jeremy Tate, the CLT’s founder and CEO, told the board this week that the exam aligns with Texas’ new social studies standards and instructional materials. Approving it would create an educational pipeline that “honors the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty,” he said.
CLT touts its emphasis on longer reading passages from influential works of literature, history and philosophy, including writings by Plato and Aristotle, historical epics, and Christian philosophical works. The SAT and ACT generally use shorter, more contemporary passages and permit calculators, while the CLT does not.
Education Week has reported that Tate sees the exam as a way to encourage schools to use classic texts to develop students’ intellect and character. In his testimony, Tate argued that this focus makes the CLT more closely aligned with Texas’ new social studies standards, state book lists and instructional materials than other entrance exams.
Maria Markham, an ACT representative, noted that the THECB had just considered a proposal to tie more public university funding to student outcomes. Evidence that a test can predict whether students will pass courses, remain enrolled and graduate was, therefore, “more important than ever,” she said.
“Getting this right protects that investment, and getting it wrong shows up later as lost time, added cost and lost opportunity,” she said.
Rosser’s letter did not mention the differences the study found. The commissioner wrote that the review found all three tests “are of sufficient rigor and reliability” for use in college admissions in the state.
Last year, lawmakers required the THECB to study the rigor and reliability of college entrance exams and report its findings to state leaders by Aug. 1. They gave the agency authority to decide which tests students may use and what scores they must earn, beginning with admissions for fall 2028.
Sen. Mayes Middleton, the Republican nominee for attorney general who authored the law requiring the review, said at the time that Texas needed alternatives to the SAT and ACT because of concerns about perceived bias and declining rigor.
During legislative hearings, CLT representatives, the Texas Homeschool Coalition and Young Conservatives of Texas described the SAT and ACT as a duopoly and argued that greater competition would give students more choices.
Before the new law, state rules recognized only the SAT and ACT as valid testing substitutes for students who had not completed the state’s required high school curriculum. However, public universities always maintained discretion to accept alternative tests for any applicants who fell outside the top-10% automatic admissions window.
Rosser’s letter noted that the next step is for the coordinating board to convene a rulemaking panel of university officials and testing experts to officially write the CLT into statewide admissions rules.
That process is expected to establish the exact benchmarks required to let students use the CLT to qualify for guaranteed admission under the state’s top 10% rule. The board plans to vote on these new rules by January, with the updated testing options officially taking effect for the fall 2028 admissions cycle.
In 2023, Florida became the first state to alter laws that protected the usage of the SAT and ACT. That state accepts CLT scores in admission decisions at all of its 12 public universities. Tate said more than 350 colleges and universities across the U.S. and abroad accept CLT scores.
Christopher Rufo, a leading activist against critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, serves on the CLT’s board of academic advisers alongside representatives from Hillsdale College and PragerU. Conservative leaders such as Oklahoma schools chief Ryan Walters and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have endorsed the test, according to Education Week.
The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
Disclosure: College Board, Education Week, Open Campus and Wynn Rosser have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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