The first SAT was administered 100 years agotoday, with the goal of helping elite colleges identify promising high school students. (Challenge yourself to 1926 test questions here.)
American psychologist and eugenicist Carl Brigham modeled the standardized test on an IQ exam used to evaluate World War I army recruits for officer positions. He said the SAT measured so-called innate intelligence, and Ivy League schools became the first to require applicants to submit their scores in the 1930s. Many schools followed suit, increasing the number of test-takers to about half a million by 1957. However, critics say SAT scores largely reflect socioeconomic background, with higher-income students historically performing better (scroll for visuals).
Over 2 million students took the SAT last year, the most since 2020, when COVID-19 closures disrupted testing. The pandemic also accelerated the test-optional movement, with around 80% of four-year institutions no longer requiring SAT scores.
