Local universities respond to SAT going fully digital in 2024

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The College Board just recently announced that they are making the SAT virtual for students.

The international SAT will be online by spring of next year, then in the fall, the practice SAT, and by spring of 2024, everything will be available virtually.

With standardized testing comes anxiety for students. We took a look at what this could mean for students getting into our local colleges.

“When students come in to do test prep with us, a lot of the time test anxiety comes up for them,” said Melissa Britner, executive director Sylvan Learning Center in Augusta.

Part of the goal of the new SAT is to cut down on that stress. Along with going virtual, the new test is shorter, students can use their calculator for the entire math portion, and scores will come back a lot quicker.

“They’ve been learning digitally through the last two years of COVID, so to be tested digitally, it’s their comfort level,” she said.

But even though ‘how’ the test is administered is changing, it likely won’t change college admissions for schools like USC Aiken have made SAT scores optional due to COVID.

Daniel Robb, associate vice chancellor for enrollment management, USC Aiken said: “My gut tells me admission testing is probably not coming back.”

But they look at SAT scores for scholarship opportunities, and these changes could lead to more applications.

“I think what they are doing probably, will encourage some students to opt back into the test, especially if it means being eligible for a scholarship,” he said.

But not all schools are make testing optional for admissions.

For Augusta University, students need a minimum SAT score of 480 on reading and writing and 440 on math to be accepted. Leaders with AU tell us it’s too early for them to know their exact plan, but they are confident those requirements will stay the same.

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