secondary school level academic attainment, and generates scores related to success in college. The test itself is primarily multiple-choice, however the SAT I does include a short answer portion in the mathematical section. Each question must pass a series of rigorous statistical, and sensitivity reviews before it is incorporated into the exam. Every year, more than 2 million students nationwide take the test, (The Big Test: SAT I, p.l) Consequently, every fall, the College Board publishes information concerning the demographics, socioeconomic, and academic data on about 1 million high school seniors with SAT I scores. In this scoring group, African American students by far, perform the worst on both sections of this standardized test. This can put them at a disadvantaged when applying to schools in the state of Virginia.
There are over100-accredited colleges in the state of Virginia that all require the students to take the SAT as a part of the admission process. Throughout these hundreds of colleges, students have to score within a certain range (preferably in the 500 range in both verbal and math) to even be considered for admission. Depending upon how high or low one scores on the SAT, and how high or low their current high school grade point average is, can play a key role in their acceptance to many of these institutions for higher learning. Many of these colleges, Hampton University in particular, have done away with and do not accept the Accredited College Test (ACT) as means for acceptance any longer. The Admission's Board feels, (H.U. Graduate Catalog p. 6-8) that the SAT measure the most appropriate aptitude of learning in the areas of critical thinking, verbal skills, and mathematics in relation to their programs more so than the ACT. For this reason, students may find it harder to get accepted at these accredited Colleges and Universities in Virginia. All of these changes and requirements are helped made possible by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).