Coronavirus has caused schools to close across the country, impacting students, teachers and families.
According to EducationWeek, as of March 17, 38 states have decided to close public schools. At least 74,000 U.S. schools have been impacted — meaning they are closed, are scheduled to close, or were closed and have since reopened — affecting at least 38.8 million public school students.
Now, the SATs and ACTs have been impacted as well.
On March 16, the College Board, the organization responsible for the SATs, announced that the exam has been canceled through the month of May.
"In response to the rapidly evolving situation around the coronavirus (COVID-19), the College Board is canceling the May 2, 2020, SAT administration. Makeup exams for the March 14 administration (scheduled March 28) are also canceled. Registered students will receive refunds," reads a statement from The College Board. "The College Board will remain focused on student safety and ensuring all students have the tools they need to work, and opportunities to receive the credit they have earned, during this challenging time."
The organization emphasizes that they will be "as flexible as possible" with students interested in taking the test in the future. The College Board also has not canceled tests that are scheduled for June 6.
Each year, some 2.1 million students take the SAT, many of them in their junior year of high school so that they can submit their scores by January of their senior year.
The ACT, another standardized exam commonly accepted by colleges and universities, has also been canceled for the next several months.
Roughly 95% of colleges and universities require or accept standardized testing like the SAT and ACT.
On Monday, ACT Inc., the organization responsible for the ACT, announced that it has moved the April 4 exam to June 13.
"ACT is committed to making every effort to help those students impacted by this test date change, particularly those high school seniors who are facing deadlines for fall 2020 college admission," ACT CEO Marten Roorda said in a statement.
President Donald Trump has said the U.S. may be able to get the new coronavirus outbreak under control by July or August at the earliest.
Correction: An earlier version of this story used a non-abbreviated name for the SATs. The organization does not use that name, and the test is officially referred to as the "SAT."
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