High school students will be able to take an at-home, online SAT test if the coronavirus keeps schools closed into the fall, the College Board announced Wednesday.
"The College Board would ensure that at-home SAT testing is simple; secure and fair; accessible to all; and valid for use in college admissions," a news release from the organization said. "Like the pencil-and-paper test, a digital, remote version of the SAT would measure what students are learning in school and what they need to know to be successful in college."
The announcement comes as colleges across the country are making the SAT and ACT standardized tests optional as an admissions requirement for students entering college in fall 2021.
The nonprofit organization previously announced that it would similarly deliver digital exams for 3 million Advanced Placement students this spring.
The College Board announced the at-home possibility as one of three options it could give students who have not been able to take the SAT this spring or who have concerns about their ability to take it in the fall. Officials said in a web conference call Wednesday that 770,000 students scheduled to take the test this spring were unable to do so.
Other options for administering the test include offering a weekend test date every month beginning in August through the end of the calendar year, if it's safe to do so from a public-health standpoint, and offering the SAT in schools. Almost all of the College Board's state partners have expressed interest in testing during the school day in the fall, the organization said.
