Minnesota currently reimburses school districts for exam fees for students who take the ACT. HF3013, sponsored by Rep. Drew Christensen (R-Burnsville), would allow these funds to be available to districts for students who take the SAT or another college entrance exam.
“This bill clarifies the budget language to ensure other nationally recognized college entrance exams can be reimbursed, essentially to provide students the option of which college entrance
test they would like to take to take that would best suit their needs,” he said.
The Legislature amended student testing laws last year to no longer require all high school students to take the ACT, but it remains by far the most commonly taken college admissions exam in the state. About 78 percent of Minnesota’s class of 2015 took the ACT, compared to about 5.4 percent who took the SAT, according to the Office of Higher Education.
The House Education Finance Committee held the bill over Wednesday for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill. A companion, SF2634, sponsored by Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-Minnetonka), awaits a hearing in the Senate Education Committee.