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D.C. students will be able to take SAT for free this year
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All juniors and seniors in the District’s public high schools, including those attending traditional and charter schools, will be able to take the SAT for free this year, Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced Tuesday.
The aim is to encourage more students to take the exam, which is required for application to many of the nation’s colleges.
Poll results have educators saying they must boost efforts to relay the importance of the rigorous approach.
“I’m so pleased that we are able to make this crucial college-
entrance exam more accessible to all of our students, making it easier for them to gain admission to institutions of higher education across the country,” Gray (D) said in a statement.
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education will pay for the tests, spending $224,084 to ensure that more than 7,300 students can register for the SAT for free. Registration normally costs each student $51, although fee waivers are available to low-income test-takers who submit required paperwork.
Traditionally administered on Saturdays, the exams will be offered at each of the city’s 34 high schools during school hours, another effort to ensure that more students sit for the test.
The changes build on existing efforts to expand D.C. teenagers’ access to the SAT, which is published by the College Board. Last year, the city’s traditional school system began offering the exams for free to all juniors.
“The SAT is the gateway to college for many students, but too often the cost is a tremendous barrier,” Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson said in a statement. “Making the SAT more accessible is great news for our students and their future success.”
Eligible students will receive vouchers at school that they can use to register online for the SAT beginning Sept. 4. Seniors have a scheduled exam date of Oct. 16, and juniors are scheduled to take the test on Feb. 26.
The District has seen high participation on the SAT, with 83 percent of the city’s high school seniors taking the exam in 2012. Only five states reported a higher percentage. In Maryland, 74 percent of seniors took the SAT last year; in Virginia, it was 72 percent.
Public school students in the District scored an average of 1184 out of a possible 2400 on the SAT in 2012, nearly 300 points below the national average.
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New data: Federal financial aid rising, but state, institutional help for students still flat
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WASHINGTON — With college costs continuing to rise, more students are receiving federal financial aid, though state and institutional aid remains largely flat
Data released Tuesday by the National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of the U.S. Department of Education, shows 71 percent of all undergraduate students received some type of financial aid in the 2011-12 school year, up from 66 percent four years earlier.
Forty-two percent of students received federal grants, up from 28 percent, and 40 percent received federal loans, an increase of 5 percentage points.
Meanwhile, 15 percent received state grants and 20 percent received a grant from the college or university they attend — figures that have remained essentially unchanged since the 2007-08 school year.
Among full-time, dependent students, access to state grants actually declined, from 29 percent to 26 percent.
“I think these last four years were very tough for states, and certainly we weren’t surprised,” said Jack Buckley, commissioner of the NCES.
The data comes just weeks after President Barack Obama signed a law restoring lower interest rates for millions of college students. The law links student loan interest rates to the financial markets, meaning rates will be lower this fall because the government can borrow money cheaply at this time. However, student loans could become more costly if the economy continues to improve, and interest rates increase.
The law covers an estimated 18 million loans totaling some $106 billion.
The new NCES data shows that college costs are still going up: In-state tuition at community college jumped almost 6 percent, to an average of $3,131 last year; in-state tuition at a public, four-year college averaged $8,655, up 5 percent; and private, four-year school tuition and fees averaged $29,056, a 4 percent increase.
Those figures, however, cover only part of college costs. According to a College Board survey, the price of housing and food is even higher than tuition for in-state students at public universities. With the added costs of food, housing, books, supplies and transportation, the total cost to attend an in-state public college was $17,860 last year.
“Increasing federal student aid alone will not control the cost of college,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. “All of us share responsibility for ensuring that college is affordable.”
Duncan said the new data “is a reminder that we need state policymakers and individual colleges and universities to do their part in taking action against rising college tuition.”
The average student received $10,800 in aid in 2011-12, up from $9,100 in 2008-09, according to NCES. That includes federal and state grants and loans, plus work-study jobs and veterans’ benefits.
On average, student grant awards totaled $6,200, compared to $4,900 four years before. The biggest increase was in Pell Grants, which provide aid to low-income students: Forty-one percent of all undergraduates received a Pell Grant, up from 27 percent.
Pell Grant awards were increased during Obama’s first term, but they still cover less than one-third the cost of a four-year public college. By contrast, they covered 69 percent of costs in 1980.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
March with the DC delegation and join the pre-March rally for DC rights at the August 24th 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. Check out marchondc50.dc.gov for full event details.
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