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Type | Paper-based standardized test |
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Developer / administrator | College Board, Educational Testing Service. |
Knowledge / skills tested | Writing, critical reading, mathematics. |
Purpose | Admission to undergraduate programs of universities or colleges. |
Year started | 1926 |
Duration | 3 to 4 hours |
Score / grade range | 200–800 (in 10-point increments) on each of two sections (total 400–1600). Essay scored on scale of 0–24, in 1-point increments. |
Score / grade validity | 789 |
Offered | Seven times annually |
Countries / regions | Worldwide |
Languages | English |
Annual no. of test takers | Over 1.69 million high school graduates in the class of 2015 |
Prerequisites / eligibility criteria | No official prerequisite. Intended for high school students. Fluency in English assumed. |
Fee | US$52.50 to US$101.50, depending on country. |
Scores / grades used by | Most universities and colleges offering undergraduate programs in the U.S. |
Website | sat |
The SAT (/ɛs eɪ ti/; es-AY-tee) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Introduced in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Scholastic Assessment Test, then the SAT I: Reasoning Test, then the SAT Reasoning Test, and now, simply the SAT.
The SAT is owned and published by the College Board, a private, not-for-profit corporation in the United States. It is developed and administered on behalf of the College Board by the Educational Testing Service. The test is intended to assess students' readiness for college. The SAT was originally designed not to be aligned with high school curricula, but several adjustments have been made for the version of the SAT introduced in 2016, and College Board president, David Coleman, has said that he also wanted to make the test reflect more closely what students learned in high school.
On March 5, 2014, the College Board announced that a redesigned version of the SAT would be administered for the first time in 2016. The current SAT, introduced in 2016, takes three hours to finish, plus 50 minutes for the SAT with essay, and as of 2017[update] costs US$45 (US$57 with the optional essay), excluding late fees, with additional processing fees if the SAT is taken outside the United States. Scores on the SAT range from 400 to 1600, combining test results from two 800-point sections: mathematics, and critical reading and writing. Taking the SAT, or its competitor, the ACT, is required for freshman entry to many, but not all, universities in the United States.