New SAT Procedure to Benefit Wealthy White Students and Boost Revenues for The College Board

The College Board has announced that beginning with next year’s class of high school juniors, students will be able to pick and choose which SAT results they want forwarded to the colleges and universities to which they apply. Thus, a student who scores poorly the first time he or she takes the test can hide these scores from college admissions officers.

Previously, the entire history of a student’s scores was sent to colleges.

The change in policy will be a huge advantage to wealthy students who can afford to take the test as many times as they want. This group tends to be predominantly white. A student from a family with a high income could take the SAT as a junior, score poorly, and then take SAT coaching classes that can boost a student’s score by 100 points or more. This student can then submit only the higher test results to colleges and universities.

To many blacks and other low-income students, multiple test taking and SAT coaching classes are not affordable. This gives whites and higher-income students another advantage in competing for places at high-ranking colleges and universities.

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.