High Cost of SAT-Prep Classes Hurt Low Income Students Aiming for College

When high school students take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), their shot at a college career often hangs in the balance.  Recognizing the importance of the standardized exam, many students take private preparatory classes that explain how the SAT differs from exams students are accustomed to taking in class.

To succeed at the SAT, it is essential to understand test-taking strategies that are specific to this test, in addition to the subject area content.  But some students can’t afford the cost of the preparatory classes, and their results often suffer.

Connecticut’s 2011 Teacher of the Year has raised concerns about the situation.  Kristen Record, a Physics Teacher at Bunnell High School in Stratford, told an education forum in Hartford last fall that her district previously offered all students an SAT-prep course, but dropped it as part of budget reductions.  Record noted that many families in Stratford – as in other Connecticut towns and cities, especially lower-income communities – cannot afford the fees of the private prep classes.

“Students take their first SAT in October of their senior year, cold, with no preparation, no guidance, no previous SAT-test taking experience.  It’s no wonder that many of them score below the state average,” she said.  Even when students retake the test a month later, it is often without any “intervention or guidance,” unfortunately leading to similar disappointing results – with potentially devastating consequences.

“In the classroom, teachers want to see attempts to answer every question,” she said.  On the SAT, attempting to answer every question can be counterproductive.  “It can be the difference between being accepted to (college) or not being accepted,” Record said.

Some local school districts in Connecticut continue to offer SAT prep courses, but for a fee, according to data posted on local web sites. 

In Hamden, the SAT prep course fee is $500 (early bird special is $475).  In Middletown, Haddam-Killingworth and Portland, it is $345 (or $255 for the abbreviated version). In Stratford, it is $210 (for Reading and Math prep).  In Branford it costs students $185, and in Danbury, $135.  Farmington provides a handful of introductory courses, and also recommends private providers, at costs that begin at $599.  The frequency and duration of the classes vary from district to district, if classes are offered at all.  Some merely provide links to private providers on their websites.

The next official SAT test date is March 9, at 38 locations, mostly high schools, throughout the state.