Illinois juniors set to take ACT instead of SAT next year

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Starting next spring, High school students in Illinois will no longer take the SAT.

Since 2016, Illinois students have taken the SAT, but that is set to change with the state of Illinois is set to return to students taking the ACT next spring. Illinois previously used the ACT as a testing requirement for 15 years prior to the switch to the SAT in 2016.

Illinois State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders joined KMOX's Total Information A.M. to discuss the transition and says that while there are some differences, the goal of the test are the same.

"They're both college-readiness exams and they both provide data for students, families and universities to say if a student is college or career ready, so from that perspective they are both similar products." said Sanders. "But the difference obviously for families who have invested time, energy and resources into test preparation, that will be a little bit of a transition this year for our junior students, but we are doing everything we can to make it as seamless as possible."

Sanders says there is still some value in the tests, even though the tests aren't as much in use in college admissions in previous years. According to Forbes, more than 80% of four-year universities didn't require standardized tests for Fall 2023 admission .

"Federal and state law still require us to still use a readiness assessment for high school for purposes of accountability," said Sanders. "Federal and state laws still says we still have to test students and engage how they perform in high school and that is the other purpose of the tests."