High school students who take the Classic Learning Test submit their scores to Hillsdale College more than any other school, according to a new list published by the CLT.
An alternative to the ACT and the SAT, the CLT was established in 2015 as a more classically-focused measure of academic knowledge. Hillsdale began accepting the CLT as a standardized test score for admission in the spring of 2017, and Hillsdale quickly became a top college CLT-takers applied to. More than 200 colleges and universities accept the CLT for a standardized test.
Jeremy Tate, founder and CEO of the CLT, said the standard for which schools are most popular among test-takers is based entirely on where students send their test scores. While this is the first year the CLT has released the list of its 20 most popular partner schools, Tate said the organization has known for the last several years which schools have been popular among CLT test takers.
“Hillsdale pretty quickly shot past colleges after adopting us very early on, and I think it will continue to be a top option going forward for our students,” Tate said. “I think students are realizing that it’s a really good way to stand out in the application process.”
In addition to Hillsdale, Christendom College, Benedictine College, and Franciscan University, also accept the CLT.
Tate said he launched the CLT in response to the increasingly progressive and secular standards of other test options. While the other tests align with Common Core guidelines — federally imposed standards for K-12 education — they lack classical elements.
Part of the CLT’s recent success, Tate said, is because of its jumpstart on remote testing. Because it has always been remotely proctored, the period from February to April 2020 saw a 600% increase in those who took the CLT because of pandemic restrictions. Despite many colleges, including Hillsdale, making testing optional for admission this past year, Tate said the CLT is still doing very well.
“I’m not at all surprised that it is in the top spot right now. If there’s one college that will be most missionally aligned with in terms of vision for education, it’s probably Hillsdale,” he said.
Senior Director of Admissions Zack Miller said that each year since 2017, Hillsdale has seen an increase in the number of students submitting CLT test results, which he credits to its growth in brand recognition, the growth in the national homeschool and classical school movement, and the CLT’s edge in remote proctoring. The desire to find a test that suits that same same constituency of the homeschool movement grew alongside the inception of the CLT, Miller said.
For the 2019-2020 school year, 8% of all enrolled Hillsdale students submitted a CLT score, while 53% submitted an ACT score and 41% submitted an SAT score. Some students submitted scores from multiple tests, which brings the total percentage above 100%. The average CLT student sends their scores to between five and 10 schools, according to Tate.
Since 2017, Hillsdale has pushed incoming students to look at the CLT as a way to get a standardized test for their application. The CLT and Hillsdale even partnered in August to sponsor a test, providing students with another opportunity to take the exam. Hillsdale covered the cost of the test for all the students who took advantage of it.
“I think there’s a lot of synergy between the kind of Hillsdale mission brand and focus and the kind of source material we’re using here at CLT,” Tate said. “Just last August we actually partnered with Hillsdale to do a uniquely sponsored test day where we actually had a Larry Arnn passage on the test and a Churchill passage on the test.”
Junior Meghan Koepke applied to three schools using her CLT scores.
“I chose to take the CLT over other standardized tests because it aligned more closely with my educational background,” Koepke said. “I went to a classical, Catholic high school, and as a result, I performed better on the CLT versus more traditional tests.”
Tate said the CLT is of much more substance.
“Instead of reading meaningless passages, or often politically-biased passages, they’re reading, Churchill, or they’re reading C.S. Lewis, or Flannery O’Connor. Some of the source material again I think is really reflective of what you all are doing at Hillsdale,” Tate said.
About 40% of CLT test takers are homeschool students and 40% are private school students, which Tate said includes parochial, charter, and classical schools. Only about 20% of test takers attend public school.
“I think a large percentage of our students, especially those who come from a classical background, were drawn to the test because it had a tradition of focus on Western texts in the Western tradition,” Miller said. “I also think they saw it as a true aptitude test whereas ACT and SAT, in a lot of people’s eyes, have gotten more away from that and more toward alignment with standards and curriculum from public schools.”
Miller added that the aim of the CLT and that of Hillsdale College are “pretty congruent.”
“They’re very similar in the focus on the ideas of the Western tradition and how those ideas are still relevant today, and through education we can understand what ought to be good, true, and beautiful and adapt that into our lives,” Miller said. “I think CLT has that similar mission that we do.”