College Board Scraps Plans to Give SAT Entrance Exam at Home

(Bloomberg) -- The College Board, which administers the SAT, has abandoned plans to offer an at-home test, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to upend the U.S. college admissions process.

Taking the test requires three hours of uninterrupted, high-quality internet access, which can't be guaranteed for all students, the New York-based nonprofit said Tuesday.

Millions of students have been unable to take college admissions exams because testing sites, often at local high schools, have been closed for months due to the pandemic. The outbreak has taken a toll on higher education, clearing students from campuses and causing universities to cut staff, freeze pay and delay plans for expansion.

Read more: SAT and ACT May Never Regain Their Role in College Admissions

The College Board also asked for universities to be flexible, for example by extending early deadlines. This would relieve pressure on students and give them more time to take tests and send their scores, it said.

“We know demand is very high and the registration process for students and families under this kind of pressure is extremely stressful,” College Board Chief Executive Officer David Coleman said Tuesday. “There are more important things than tests right now.”

The next SAT exam is scheduled for August. Rival ACT is still moving forward with its test on June 13.

The College Board also ran into difficulty by administering its Advanced Placement tests at home last month. A group of high school students sued, saying they were unfair to teens trapped at home by the coronavirus pandemic without adequate computers or internet connections.

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