The SAT Turns 100: A Test Still Changing, a Debate Still Unsettled
A century of reinvention
When the SAT was first administered in June 1926, about 8,000 high school students took it in hopes of getting into elite universities. A hundred years later, the exam has been reshaped again and again—from how it is delivered to what it asks students to know—yet one question persists: How well does it measure readiness for college? Understanding that history helps explain why the test remains so contested.
The test was developed in the 1920s by the College Board, an organization founded in 1900 by the presidents of 12 leading universities to standardize admissions. At the time, each university used its own entrance exam, typically essays written and graded by professors. In 1926, students sat for a uniform SAT for the first time. It contained 315 questions and had a 97-minute time limit, leaving about 18 seconds per question, though test-takers were not expected to answer every item.
The original exam had nine sections. Some would look familiar today, such as paragraph reading and arithmetic. Others, like artificial language—which asked students to write coded sentences using complicated rules, such as plurals formed by adding -o—have disappeared. From 1928 to 1929 and again from 1936 to 1941, the SAT had no math questions. Between 1930 and 1935, all math questions were free response rather than multiple choice.
At the time, the SAT was revolutionary. It was not an essay exam whose subjects and questions were chosen by professors at a single university. Multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions could be scored quickly and objectively. Students no longer had to travel to a college campus to take an entrance exam; thousands could take the same test closer to home, and their scores could be sent to multiple colleges rather than just one. That created both more competition and broader access to higher education.
Still, not all colleges or high school teachers welcomed the change. Some worried that a standardized test would dictate high school curricula. The SAT remained relatively rare: in the late 1930s and early 1940s, only about 10,000 students took it each year.
From niche exam to admissions gatekeeper
In 1947, Educational Testing Service, a private nonprofit devoted to testing and educational research, was created to administer the SAT and develop other exams. The organization had an incentive to sell the SAT to institutions, and its use spread.
After World War II, universities saw a surge in applicants benefiting from the GI Bill, which offered educational and financial assistance to military veterans. Schools began to tighten admissions criteria and lean more on the SAT to weed out some applicants. In 1960, the University of California system became the first and largest public system to require the SAT. That same year, the ACT was created. Over the following decades, more colleges made the SAT part of standard admissions.
To reduce students' reliance on private tutors, the test's creators also expanded the exam and revised its questions. In 1994, students used physical calculators on the SAT for the first time.
By then, the SAT and ACT had become high-stakes rituals. Admission could hinge on a score, and an increase of just 50 to 100 points could translate into thousands of dollars in scholarships. The pressure helped fuel a long-running debate over fairness.
Equity, wealth and the limits of testing
The achievement gap between racial groups on SAT scores has been documented and debated for decades. Asian students have the highest average score of any ethnic group, followed by white students. Wealthier students are 13 times more likely than low-income students to score 1300 or higher out of a maximum 1600.
Part of that gap reflects access. The test costs money to take, and wealthier families can afford tutors and prep classes. Their children also tend to attend better-funded public or private high schools.
The achievement gap between different racial groups on standardized test scores has been well documented and debated for decades. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
Some research shows the SAT offers a strong indication of students' skills, knowledge and potential for college success. Other research points to fundamental flaws, including the income gap in scores. Some studies link family income to test scores and college success, measured by GPA, retention and graduation. Other research indicates that a student's high school GPA is a better predictor of college success than SAT scores. Those findings have fed doubts about how accurate a barometer the SAT really is.
Around 2000, about 280 colleges and universities began allowing applicants to apply without submitting SAT or ACT scores. The COVID-19 pandemic turned that trickle into a flood. With virus transmission concerns making it difficult to sit for the exam, almost no university required the SAT or ACT in 2020 or 2021.
Today, roughly 86% of colleges and universities are test-optional. Six years after the pandemic began, more than 2,000 institutions still do not require scores. The label can be misleading, however, because some scholarships still depend on SAT scores. In 2025, more than 2 million students—about 47% of graduating high school students—took the SAT, the highest number since before the pandemic. Another 1.38 million, or 36%, took the ACT.
The COVID-19 pandemic offered an experiment for universities that hadn't already made the SAT optional for applicants. Alex Brandon/Associated Press
The test itself continues to change. In 2024, it was shortened from three hours to two hours and 15 minutes, bringing it closer to the 97-minute exam of a century ago. Also in 2024, the SAT went fully digital.
The exam is not a perfect reflection of students' potential and skills. But for many high school students, it remains a rite of passage as they look ahead to college—and a reminder that the fight over who gets admitted, and on what terms, is far from settled.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by Beth Kania-Gosche, Missouri University of Science and Technology.
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Beth Kania-Gosche has previously received funding from the National Science Foundation. She is the president of the Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.