The New York Times: "The College Board, which administers the SAT college entrance examination and has seen its business battered by the coronavirus pandemic ... will drop the optional essay section from the SAT and stop administering subject-matter tests in the United States." The board will "also continue to develop a version of the SAT test that could be administered digitally — something it tried and failed to do quickly with an at-home version last year after the pandemic shut down testing centers ... The changes to the SAT come as more and more colleges are dropping the requirement that students take the test, as well as its competitor the ACT, a trend driven in part by concerns about equity that received a boost during the pandemic."
"Critics of the College Board said the decision was almost certainly driven by financial considerations. The SAT has in the past represented a substantial portion of the College Board’s more than $1 billion in annual revenue." Jon Boeckenstedt of Oregon State University comments: “The SAT and the subject exams are dying products on their last breaths, and I’m sure the costs of administering them are substantial."
"David Coleman, the chief executive officer of the College Board, said the organization’s goal was not to get more students to take A.P. courses and tests, but to eliminate redundant exams, thereby reducing the burden on high school students applying to college."
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