The College Board said Tuesday that about 334,000 students registered for the Sept. 26 SAT and 363,000 for the Oct. 3 SAT and SAT Subject Tests, but testing site closures mean at least 183,000 September-registered students and 154,000 October-registered students won’t be able to take the test. This comes after about 53% of testing centers for the Aug. 29 SAT exam closed or reduced capacity, leaving only 150,000 students able to take the test that 402,000 students had registered for, according to the College Board.
More than 2.2 million students in the graduating class of 2020 took the SAT in high school, and 1.8 million 2019 graduates took the ACT. Compass Education Group, a test prep company, expects that a third fewer will take both in the 2020-2021 testing cycle. The test companies declined to give their own projections, though an ACT spokesperson said the company acknowledges the number of test takers will be lower this year due to the pandemic.
Both organizations have worked to remedy problems. Each has added test dates throughout the fall. The College Board is asking universities to extend deadlines for receiving scores and begins fall school-day testing on Wednesday.
Due to the pandemic, two-thirds of all four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. aren’t requiring test scores for fall 2021 admission, according to advocacy group FairTest. The list includes selective schools like Harvard, University of North Carolina and Cornell University.
No word yet if the Florida Board of Governors will allow the state's public universities to make the SAT/ACT optional.