All high school 11th graders in the Houston Independent School District will have the opportunity to take the SAT college entrance exam free of charge at their home campuses this spring.
Only two other school districts in the nation have gone this far to ensure all students are ready to apply for college acceptance once they graduate. Typically, students have to register for the exam on their own and then take the SAT on a weekend at a specific testing site. The standard fee is $47.
“Giving students a chance to take the SAT at their own high school during regular school hours encourages more students to apply for college,” said HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. “This eliminates obstacles that sometimes keep students from ever taking the SAT.”
The free in-class testing, scheduled for April 13, is expected to double the number of graduates who have taken the SAT. Nearly 5,000 of HISD’s graduates in the class of 2010 took the SAT, which is less than half of all graduates.
The testing initiative is partially funded by the Texas Education Agency’s Texas College Preparation Program (TCPP), which provides juniors with a College Readiness Assessment Voucher. HISD students may use this voucher for the SAT at their home school on Wednesday, April 13 or their choice of either the SAT or ACT exam on the following pre-approved dates at specific testing sites.
ACT
April 9 – registration deadline is March 4
SAT
May 7 – registration deadline is April 8
June 4 – registration deadline is May 6
HISD juniors will have access to the College Board’s Official SAT Online Course.
The SAT is the latest exam to be offered to HISD students at no cost. Last spring, the school district paid for all students enrolled in college-level Advanced Placement courses to take AP exams that can earn them college credit. As a result, the number of AP exams taken increased 46 percent from 2009 and 38 percent of exams taken by all AP students earned a qualifying score.
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