Resources › For Students and Parents Colleges that Require the ACT Writing Test Learn Which Colleges and Universities Require the ACT With Writing Share Flipboard Email Print ACT writing test. David Schaffer / Getty Images For Students and Parents Test Prep ACT Test Prep Test Prep Strategies Study Skills SAT Test Prep GRE Test Prep LSAT Test Prep Certifications Homework Help Private School College Admissions College Life Graduate School Business School Law School Distance Learning View More By Allen Grove Allen Grove Facebook Twitter College Admissions Expert Ph.D., English, University of Pennsylvania M.A., English, University of Pennsylvania B.S., Materials Science & Engineering and Literature, MIT Dr. Allen Grove is an Alfred University English professor and a college admissions expert with over 20 years of experience helping students transition to college. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on May 14, 2020 If you're trying to decide whether you should take the ACT with Writing or just the regular ACT, the list below can help you make your decision. It includes all of the colleges and universities in the 50 United States that require the ACT writing section, listed by state. Realize, however, that there are hundreds of colleges that recommend the ACT Plus Writing without requiring it. So unless you know for sure that the schools you're applying to don't care about the writing section, it may be wise to spend the extra half an hour and $16.00 to take the ACT Plus Writing. Note that the number of colleges requiring the ACT with Writing continues to decrease since the SAT dropped the required writing section from its exam in March of 2016. Some schools had required the ACT Writing Test to put the SAT and ACT on equal footing, but now that writing is optional for the SAT, many schools have decided to make it optional for both exams. Schools Requiring the ACT Writing Test The schools on the list were identified using ACT's search tool. Colleges change their requirements frequently, so be sure to double-check with the schools for the most accurate and up-to-date information. Click on a school's name here to get more information including acceptance rates and typical ACT and SAT scores for admitted students. Alabama None Alaska None Arizona None Arkansas None California California Institute of Technology Chapman University Claremont McKenna College Golden State Baptist College Harvey Mudd College Occidental College Patten University Scripps College Soka University of America Stanford University University of California at Berkeley (Berkeley) University of California at Davis (UC Davis) University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine) University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) University of California at Merced (UCM) University of California at Riverside (UCR) University of California at San Diego (UCSD) University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) University of La Verne University of San Diego Westmont College Colorado None Connecticut United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) Yale University Delaware Delaware State University District of Columbia None Florida Florida A&M (FAMU) Florida Atlantic University Florida International University (FIU) Trinity Baptist College Georgia Georgia Southern University Morris Brown College Ogeechee Technical College Oxford College of Emory University Hawaii University of Hawaii at Manoa Idaho None Illinois Bible Missionary InstituteMacCormac CollegeOlive-Harvey CollegeSt. Joseph College SeminaryVanderCook College of Music Indiana Fairhaven CollegeIndiana University East Iowa None Kansas None Kentucky Louisville Bible CollegeSimmons College of Kentucky Louisiana None Maine None Maryland Washington Adventist University Massachusetts Harvard University Springfield College Wellesley College Michigan College for Creative Studies University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Minnesota None Mississippi None Missouri Urshan College Montana University of Montana Western Nebraska None Nevada None New Hampshire Dartmouth College New Jersey Seton Hall University New Mexico None New York Barnard College - Columbia University Concordia College - New York CUNY - John Jay College of Criminal Justice Five Towns College List College - Jewish Theological Seminary Molloy College Pratt Institute Siena College SUNY College - Old Westbury SUNY Maritime College University at Buffalo - SUNY United States Military Academy - West Point Vassar College North Carolina Duke University Elizabeth City State University Elon University Fayetteville State University North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Queens University of Charlotte University of North Carolina School of the Arts Western Carolina University Winston-Salem State University North Dakota None Ohio God’s Bible School and College Lake Erie College Oklahoma East Central University Oregon Lane Community College Oregon State University Portland State University Pennsylvania Arcadia University Lafayette College Muhlenberg College University of the Sciences in Philadelphia York College of Pennsylvania Rhode Island Rhode Island College Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) South Carolina University of South Carolina - Columbia (USC) South Dakota None Tennessee Southwest Tennessee Community College Texas Cedar Valley College Hardin-Simmons University Paul Quinn College Southwest School of Art St. Edward's University Stephen F. Austin State University Tarleton State University University of Dallas University of Mary Hardin-Baylor University of Texas at Austin University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Utah None Vermont None Virginia None Washington University of Washington Tacoma West Virginia West Virginia University Institute of Technology West Virginia University Wisconsin None Wyoming None Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Grove, Allen. "Colleges that Require the ACT Writing Test." ThoughtCo, Jul. 11, 2021, thoughtco.com/colleges-that-require-act-writing-test-788794. Grove, Allen. (2021, July 11). Colleges that Require the ACT Writing Test. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/colleges-that-require-act-writing-test-788794 Grove, Allen. "Colleges that Require the ACT Writing Test." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/colleges-that-require-act-writing-test-788794 (accessed January 27, 2023). copy citation