Students across the country are preparing for a major change to how some college admission exams will be administered next spring.
The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is transitioning to an all-digital format, doing away with the traditional pencil-and-paper test starting in March 2024.
UWorld, a Coppell-based company specializing in test prep, is providing some local non-profit organizations with its new digital SAT course to help students familiarize themselves with the format change.
One of the nonprofits to receive the course was Girls Inc. of Metropolitan Dallas, which provides academic support to lower-income female students.
“It’s high stakes for them and their families. That score could be the difference between them getting into college or not,” said Jaime Cabrera, senior director of development of the organization, according to CBS News Texas.
College hopefuls taking the test next year will have to do so on their laptops or tablets. Those without personal computers and unable to borrow one from their schools can contact the College Board for a loaned device.
“I want to be as prepared as I can be for the test to get the highest score I can,” said high school sophomore and Girls Inc. enrollee Karrington Price, per CBS News.
College readiness has been a problem for some public school districts in North Texas. For its part, Dallas ISD logged poor marks in the 2022-2023 school year, with only 25% of students scoring at or above the college-ready standard on admission exams like the SAT.
“We really want to invest in organizations like [Girls Inc.], especially here in our backyard, in our own community,” said Jamie Reed, product marketing manager for college readiness at UWorld, per CBS News.
In addition to being digital, the new SAT will be shorter than the previous version, taking about two hours to complete instead of three. College Board officials believe the new version of the SAT will be more secure and provide broader access to test takers, such as rural or home-schooled students.
“Currently, if one test form is compromised, it can mean canceling scores for whole groups of students,” College Board states on its website. “Going digital allows us to give every student a unique test form, so it will be practically impossible to share answers.”
