ACT rather than SAT, Illinois education officials decide for state high school assessment

When Illinois high school students take their annual state assessments next year, they’ll be taking the ACT exam rather than the SAT, as they have in recent years.

Both standardized tests measure proficiency in core subjects such as English language arts and math. And both are commonly used for scholarship applications and for college admissions — though many colleges and universities have stopped requiring them.

The Illinois State Board of Education also uses them as part of the battery of tests schools administer each year to meet federal mandates under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Results of those tests are reported each year on the Illinois Report Card and used to hold schools and school districts accountable for meeting basic academic standards.

Illinois started using the SAT with Essay as the state assessment for 11th-grade students in the spring of 2017. Two years later, it began using the PSAT 8/9 exam for ninth-graders and the PSAT 10 for high school sophomores.

Incorporating a college entrance exam into the state’s annual assessment program was considered a bonus because it gave nearly all graduating high school students a reportable score, paid for by the state, which they also could use for college and scholarship applications.

In recent years, though, many colleges and universities have stopped requiring either the SAT or ACT as part of their application and admission processes.

In 2021, Illinois lawmakers passed the Higher Education Fair Admissions Act, requiring all public universities and community colleges to adopt a “test-optional” policy for admissions, meaning students could voluntarily choose whether to include them in their application package. But the state board kept using the tests as part of its federally mandated statewide assessments.

The switch to the ACT came as the agency’s contract with the College Board, the nonprofit company that operates the SAT, was set to expire on June 30. The state agency decided to open the bidding process and solicit sealed proposals from testing companies. The decision to award a six-year, $53 million contract to ACT was finalized in May. Students will take the new test in the spring of 2025.

According to the state agency, one of the advantages of switching exams is the ACT includes a science component, and the SAT covers only the core subjects of reading, writing and math. That means high school juniors no longer have to take a separate Illinois Science Assessment, reducing testing time.

The change also means that students who still want to take the SAT or the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test will have to do so on their own. The state won’t pay for those tests.