College entrance exam won’t be required for this year’s graduates

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) – The State Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to waive Idaho’s requirement that members of the high school Class of 2022 must take a college entrance exam in order to graduate this spring or summer. 

Board member Sherri Ybarra, Superintendent of Public Instruction, advocates permanent removal of the requirement.

That issue, a rule change proposed by the state board, is pending before the Idaho Legislature this session. Under the current rule, which was waived in 2020 and 2021 because of pandemic conditions, Idaho students must take either the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) or the ACT (American College Testing). Most high school juniors take the SAT because a state contract provides that test to students for free.

Last June the State Board of Education dropped college entrance exams as a statewide requirement for state colleges and universities, and the required test has questionable value for assessing Idaho high school students’ college readiness relative to their peers across the nation.

“Idaho students’ SAT performance is hard to compare to results in other states, where the test is optional and therefore only taken by motivated students who prepare for the exam,” Superintendent Ybarra said. “Idaho students, too, should have the option. I don’t think it should be a graduation requirement, but the access and ability to take the college entrance exam should be available to all of our students.”