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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 26 January 2022
SAT going digital in shifting college admissions landscape

By CAROLYN THOMPSON Scores will be available in
Associated Press days, rather than weeks,
The SAT exam will move she said. There have been
from paper and pencil to a cases through the years of
digital format, administra- sets of paper exams getting
tors announced Tuesday, lost in the mail. "The digital
saying the shift will boost its version, I thought, was a lot
relevancy as more colleg- less stressful than the paper
es make standardized tests and pencil version. It felt a
optional for admission. lot more familiar," said Na-
Test-takers will be allowed talia Cossio, 16, of Fairfax
to use their own laptops County, Virginia, who took
or tablets but they'll still part in a November pilot
have to sit for the test at a after first taking the PSAT on
monitored testing site or in paper.
school, not at home. She said the digital format
The format change is would solve some logisti-
scheduled to roll out inter- cal issues she's seen, like
nationally next year and in students bringing mechani-
the U.S. in 2024. It will also cal pencils instead of the
shave an hour from the cur- required No. 2 variety, or
rent version, bringing the advanced calculators that
reading, writing and math are not allowed. The digi-
assessment from three In this photo taken Jan. 17, 2016, a student looks at questions during a college test preparation tal version includes a ba-
hours to about two. class at Holton Arms School in Bethesda, Md. Associated Press sic calculator for the math
"The digital SAT will be eas- section.q
ier to take, easier to give, & Open Testing, a watch-
and more relevant," said dog group that opposes
Priscilla Rodriguez, vice standardized testing. The
president of College Read- group, known as FairTest,
iness Assessments at the said at least 1,400 of them
New York City-based Col- have extended the policy
lege Board, which admin- through at least the fall
isters the SAT and related 2023 admissions cycle.
PSAT. "We're not simply put- About 1.5 million mem-
ting the current SAT on a bers of the class of 2021
digital platform. We're tak- took the SAT at least once,
ing full advantage of what down from 2.2 million in the
delivering an assessment previous year. A College
digitally makes possible." Board survey found many
Once essential for college students want to take the
applications, scores from SAT to preserve the option
admission tests like the SAT of submitting the scores
and rival ACT carry less and qualifying for certain
weight today as colleges scholarships. Rodriguez
and universities pay more said the digital version will
attention to the sum of stu- be delivered in a format
dent achievements and more familiar to students
activities throughout high who regularly learn and
school. Amid criticism that test online at school. Also,
the exams favor wealthy, student score reports will
white applicants and dis- not only focus on connect-
advantage minority and ing students with four-year
low-income students, an in- colleges and scholarships,
creasing number of schools but also provide informa-
have in recent years ad- tion about two-year col-
opted test-optional poli- lege and workforce train-
cies, which let students ing options. That reflects an
decide whether to include increase in the number of
scores with their applica- students who are given the
tions. exam during a designated
The pandemic acceler- SAT day at school, with
ated the trend as testing some districts requiring stu-
sessions were canceled or dents take it. About 60% of
inaccessible. students who take the SAT
Nearly 80% of bachelor's do so at school, Rodriguez
degree-granting institu- said.
tions are not requiring test "We want to present stu-
scores from students ap- dents with a wider range of
plying for fall 2022, accord- information and resources
ing to a December tally by about their post-secondary
the National Center for Fair options," she said.