The headline says it was easier to fairly choose students with the exams, and I'm calling bullshit on that assumption. It implicitly assumes that selecting for standardized test scores is more fair.
College admission has been unfair for generations. TBH I'm not sure "fairness" is even a good metric. Is it fair that I didn't have to work after school to support my family? No. Is it fair that my parents have advanced degrees and read to me as a young child? No. Is it fair that I got to take the SAT twice, because I wanted a higher math score? No. None of that is fair, and all of it helped me get into highly selective colleges.
Having test scores to fall back on is more useful as a CYA exercise than anything meaningful. "Nobody ever got fired for hiring McKinsey” indeed.