What Does the SAT Stand For?
By Faith Walessa
A household name in the college admissions process, it seems strange that most of us have no idea what the College Board’s SAT stands for. It turns out, neither do they.
Originally the Scholastic Aptitude Test, then the Scholastic Achievement Test, the SAT is now simply the letters themselves. In short, the College Board has declared that the SAT does not stand for anything at all. And the evidence seems to agree.
At its inception, the SAT claimed to test aptitude, or natural ability. The goal was to identify students who showcased an innate inclination for academics to aid colleges in their selection of the best candidates. Later, following concerns about what is considered “natural ability” the SAT changed to test achievement, or specific knowledge and skills. However, they no longer claim to test either.
Recent Changes to the SAT
Following the debut of the digital SAT in March 2024, the structure and content of the test underwent extensive changes. Most significantly, the passages in the Reading and Writing section of the test have been reduced from 500-750 words, to 25-150 words maximum, or the length of a social media post. As Michael Torres explains in his article for the Martin Center, “This resulted in the elimination of significant portions of SAT’s previously used reading material, including “passages in the U.S. founding documents/Great Global Conversation subject area,” because of their “extended length.”’
The new SAT reading passages are accompanied by a single question each, in the name of efficiency, and based on the claim that longer-form reading analysis is “not an essential prerequisite for college and career readiness.” In an age of reduced attention spans and artificial intelligence choking academic integrity, this radical choice means that college-bound students are being assessed on their ability to digest less information at a time than would be found in a typical menu.
The new math section brings similar troubles. Not only is a calculator allowed for the entirety of the section, but the number of questions has been reduced, while the time is left the same. Torres relates that “Students taking the post-2024 SAT now have 1.6 minutes per question, compared to 1.3 minutes on the 2015-2024 SAT.” In contrast, “The ACT and CLT provide 1.1 minutes per question.” Students who take this version of the exam are not engaging with the SAT as it is internationally understood, but are instead capitalizing on the test’s former prestige.
It may seem as though such drastic changes must violate some form of SAT testing policy, but this was avoided when they redacted their original name. By simply remaining “the SAT” the College Board is not claiming to deliver any particular product; they have no accountability in what they test. This gives the College Board unlimited freedom to self-modify at will, jeopardizing the integrity of the testing system in order to create a wider appeal. Consider the countless scholarship decisions and state graduation requirements based on SAT scores. These policies cannot be expected to hold without consistency on the part of the exam.
Of course, the SAT was never intended to remain static. Some changes are naturally expected over time to reflect shifts in society. However, the timing of these particular changes raises serious concerns. Post-Covid, the popularity of standardized tests was dropping rapidly, with around 80% of colleges choosing to go test-optional. Such a complete re-modelling of identity was not about benefitting students, but benefitting the SAT’s public perception.
Following the move to digital testing, the College Board’s senior vice president of college readiness assessments, Priscilla Rodriguez, directly confirmed this in an interview with Chalkboard. “If we’re launching a test that is largely optional, how do we make it the most attractive option possible?” she said. “If students are deciding to take a test, how do we make the SAT the one they want to take?”
What Does “SAT” Stand For? Today, “SAT” has no meaning as an acronym. The SAT acronym originally stood for “Scholastic Aptitude Test,” but as the test evolved, the acronym’s meaning was dropped.
Why We’re Concerned
The SAT has made the choice to pander to students, shying away from assessing true college readiness by diluting test difficulty. Not only does this exacerbate the challenges of college admissions, but it further compromises the education system. College Board CEO David Coleman declared that “teachers will teach towards the test. There is no force on this earth strong enough to prevent that.” Therefore, the SAT bears incredible responsibility as one of the most popular choices for a college admissions exam. If the SAT fails to stand for high standards, by Coleman’s own logic, they are at least partly to blame for the failures of the education system. Since teachers are teaching to the test, students will only prosper when we give them a test with ideas worth teaching to.
For a long time now, standardized tests have been the great equalizer, providing a rigorous form of clarity and objectivity to the college admissions process. The latest efforts from the SAT will soon render this impossible, as the College Board favours instead what will most please students. According to research from the University of Cincinnati, an AI program trained to do SAT math questions since 2008 found that the test has grown easier by about four points each year. This is not a sustainable trend. There is nowhere to go after every student has achieved a 1600. Score inflation, passage shrinkage, and adaptive testing are working hard to ensure that SAT results, just like the acronym they come from, soon won’t mean anything at all.
A Real Alternative
With the ACT beginning to start on the same trail, this would be an impossible situation if the College Board ran unopposed. But they don’t.
The CLT (Classic Learning Test) is an alternative college entrance exam featuring content pulled from the greatest minds in the Western tradition, from Aristotle to Jane Austen to Albert Einstein. The CLT does not just assess, but is designed to inspire and enrich its students, giving their teachers a gold standard to teach to. While the SAT now tests neither aptitude nor achievement, the CLT blends both into a test that delivers a true profile of student ability across a wide range of academic domains, including textual analysis, understanding of literary structure and style, and mathematical reasoning and problem solving in arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. The numbers are picking up speed as states and colleges are once again seeing the merit of a rigorous test. Accepted at over 300 Partner Colleges around the nation and tied to over $100 million dollars in scholarships annually, CLT scores and students are in high demand to combat this cultural decline.
Most importantly, the CLT is mission-based and anchored, begun and rooted in the goal of restoring education through the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty. You wouldn’t vote for a politician that runs without a platform. Don’t choose an exam that does the same. It’s more than just a test; we’re standing for the high standards that hold the future of American education.
Why define your academic career with a test that refuses to define itself? Take an exam that stands for something real. Take the Classic Learning Test.
Faith Walessa is from Ontario, Canada, and is a current sophomore at Hillsdale College. She loves fanciful poetry, theater, reading by flashlight, and freshly brewed coffee.
If you enjoyed this piece, be sure to check out our podcast, Anchored. For more Journal content, check out our recent post on What the CLT Actually Tests! From us at the Journal, thanks for reading and have a great rest of your week.
Published on 31st July, 2025.