College Board Cancels March SAT in China, Citing Coronavirus Threat

The March SAT was cancelled in China due to the threat of COVID-19, according to Inside Higher Ed. The College Board made its decision based on health and travel concerns. Not only did the College Board cancel the administration of the test in mainland China (the March SAT was still given in Hong Kong and Macau), the testing agency also cancelled the registrations of students who planned to travel from China to other parts of the world for the test.

Although the SAT was the largest test cancelled in China due to the ongoing health crisis, it wasn’t the only one: the GRE, GMAT, IETLS, and TOEFL have been cancelled in mainland China for the past two testing administrations, and the February ACT was also axed for the region.

The impact of the coronavirus on the world of higher education isn’t limited to test administrations, though. After all, students in China take these tests in order to gain admittance to American colleges and universities: if they can’t travel, they can’t enroll. If the coronavirus outlasts this admissions season, colleges and universities all across the country may be facing an enrollment shortfall, as Chinese students make up more than a third of all international enrollments at American schools. Australian colleges and universities, whose terms start in late February and early March, are already reporting a drastic drop in international enrollments.