New York City just made the SAT a lot less painful — at least on the pocketbook — for high school juniors.
The New York Times reported Monday that the city will offer public school juniors the SAT for free beginning in the Spring 2016-2017 term.
The goal, the Times reported, is to generate more interest in applying to college by lowering at least one barrier to entry. The SAT exam costs more than $50.
“The opportunity to go to college should never be decided by students’ backgrounds or ZIP codes,” Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said in a statement obtained by the Times.
The SAT is voluntary. The Education Department says 56 percent of the 2015 class took the SAT “at least once,” the Times reported.
