Sacramento City Unified gives students an edge, offers SAT exam for free
More than 3,000 students at various Sacramento-area high schools are taking the SAT exam for free on Wednesday.
The multiple-choice exam is mandatory for most college and university applications. It’s also one of the several tools admissions offices use to compare applicants, and accept or deny students.
Sacramento City Unified School District began covering the cost in 2018, joining dozens of other California districts and at least 10 states that are offering the exam for free on a school day.
Prior to implementing the program, 24 percent of the district’s students entering their senior year of high school in 2017 took the SAT exam. In 2019, as a result of offering a free exam, that percentage increased to 87 percent.
The program costs approximately $112,000, and is run through a contract with the College Board. Students would otherwise pay $49.50 for the SAT exam, and $64.50 for the exam with an added essay portion.
“We are leveling the playing field for students in making the SAT available during the school day for free,” said Sacramento City Unified Board President Jessie Ryan. “Removing this barrier to college eligibility by making it a district-wide opportunity sends a powerful message to our students that we know they have potential to achieve their college dreams.”
In addition to Sacramento Unified, the Natomas Unified School District also is offering the free exam to 900 juniors on Wednesday.
Students who identify as low-income in Sacramento and the country can apply for a fee waiver for the SAT through the College Board. (About 40 percent of California students qualify for a free or reduced lunch.)
Sacramento City Unified followed more than two dozen California school districts in offering the free exam, including Twin Rivers Unified and Fresno Unified School Districts.
For the past two years, Mesa Verde, El Camino Fundamental and San Juan High Schools in San Juan Unified School District offered the SAT during a school day for $5 a student.
More than 200 school districts offer the School Day SAT. In the 2018-2019 school year, the District of Columbia and these states administered the test at no cost: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and West Virginia.
By taking the exam at school, students don’t need to worry about transportation, fee waivers or rescheduling their job hours.
In total, nearly 1 million students, or 40 percent of the class of 2019, took the SAT on a school day.
Universal testing “opens the door to more effective, targeted efforts to draw talented, disadvantaged students into college” and has a modest but clear impact on college attendance, especially at four-year colleges, economist and co-director of the University’s Education Policy Initiative Susan Dynarski said in review of the program.
Sacramento City Unified also offered 11th grade students a free breakfast Wednesday morning before heading to the three-hour exam at their respective school sites.
“Ensuring that all students have the opportunity to take the SAT is an example of Sac City’s commitment to equity and access to college and career readiness for all students,” said Superintendent Jorge Aguilar. “We want every Sac City student to have the widest range of opportunities after high school, and taking the SAT is an important college readiness factor. I encourage all of our high school juniors taking the SAT today to do their best on this exam.”
The SAT tests students on math, reading and writing. It also includes an optional essay section.
In 2019, some University of California officials said they supported dropping the SAT and ACT exams from admission requirement, adding that it contributes to inequities.
In the last year, about 50 schools have made the standardized test scores optional, joining about 1,000 others colleges and universities, according to FairTest, a watchdog group that tracks fair testing.
This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 10:03 AM.