Digital SAT Suite Student Data Privacy
College Board recognizes the importance of protecting student privacy. We are committed to transparency in the collection and use of data that is provided when a student takes SAT School Day, PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT10 and PSAT 8/9. College Board formalizes its commitments in its agreements with schools, districts, and state departments of education, in the student guides and testing rules with students available in our Privacy Center, and by fully complying with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. s. 1232g, and its implementing regulations, 34 C.F.R. pt. 99 ("FERPA").
Below are details about the data collected from schools and students during these assessments, and how that data is used and the limited disclosures of it in order to provide educational services to the school and students. For more information about our commitment to student data privacy and additional program-specific information, see our Privacy Center.
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL, DISTRICT, OR STATE
Schools, districts, and/or state departments of education provide College Board with limited demographic information to register students for the test. This includes:
- First and last name
- Attending institution
- Date of birth
- Grade level
- Gender
Some educational institutions also provide student identification number. This information is the minimum needed for administering the test, scoring, and reporting test results.
For digital testing, College Board will receive certain information about the device to ensure the device is compatible and monitor the actions taken in Bluebook for test security purposes, as well as to develop and improve College Board products and services. See the Bluebook application rules and privacy policy.
OPTIONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED FROM STUDENTS
Schools lead a digital readiness check which orients students to the functionality of digital testing. During these digital readiness activities, students have the opportunity to answer 10 basic questions about themselves, their educational experience, and their plans for after they graduate high school. This includes:
- Home/mailing address
- Email address
- Race
- Ethnicity
- High school Grade Point Average (GPA)
- Intended college major or areas of study of interest
- Level of education aspirations
- First language
- Best language, and
- Parents' highest level of education.
All questions are optional. Schools are free to direct their students not to provide the optional information.
USE OF STUDENT INFORMATION
College Board's use of students’ personally identifiable information is only as necessary to provide the assessment(s) and educational services to the schools, districts, and state departments of education. This includes to administer the test, including to verify the student’s identity, to provide score information, to maintain the fairness and validity of the test, for test security purposes, and for test accommodations purposes. If a student chooses to access the optional BigFuture School mobile app or participate in Connections (discussed below), this information is also used to customize their experiences.
On a de-identified basis, student information may be used for psychometric and educational research purposes, and to maintain, develop, support, improve, and diagnose College Board services and applications.
DISCLOSURE OF STUDENT INFORMATION
In addition to only collecting student data necessary for providing our educational services, College Board limits the sharing of that data, providing it back to the student and their school, district, and/or state for which we’re providing those services. College Board does not disclose any student personally identifying information of students participating in the SAT School Day, PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10 or PSAT 8/9 to any third parties, other than for the following purposes aligned to delivery of the educational services provided with the SAT Suite:
- For PSAT/NMSQT, to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) in order for NMSC to determine whether students are eligible for its National Merit Scholarship Program.
- For SAT School Day, to state affiliated scholarship organizations and the U.S. Department of Education to determine whether students are eligible for the state scholarship or recognition program and the U.S. Presidential Scholars Programs.
- For SAT School Day, to colleges or scholarship programs selected by students to receive their SAT score (a free option for students to select up to 4 score recipients).
- Only as necessary to vendors performing services to College Board (such as Amazon Web Services).
- College Board may disclose student data as required by law, when we believe in good faith that it’s necessary to protect our rights, protect an individual’s safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.
- For results of test security investigations, to third parties, including with any score recipient, college, higher education institution or agency, scholarship organization, potential score recipient, government agency in the United States or abroad, parents, legal guardians, or law enforcement.
BIG FUTURE SCHOOL AND CONNECTIONS
College Board's SAT Suite includes educational services to help students navigate post-secondary and career pathways and to help K-12 educators and counselors serve their students' needs, including BigFuture School and Connections.
BIGFUTURE SCHOOL MOBILE APP
BigFuture School is a free, optional mobile app offering a new way for students to access their scores. Schools may also continue to distribute score reports directly to students. BigFuture School lets students view their score information and get customized career information and guidance about planning and paying for college. During the testing experience, eligible students may choose to provide a mobile number that will only be used by College Board to text them a link to download the app, send a code they will use to log in to the app, and let them know when their scores are ready. The mobile phone number will not be shared or used for any other reason. For students who provide their mobile number, they will have the opportunity to also provide a recovery email, which we recommend to provide a second secure option to authenticate access to the mobile app.
CONNECTIONS
During the testing experience and when students access BigFuture School, they may opt into Connections, a new optional feature exclusively for eligible students that allows them to hear from nonprofit colleges, scholarship programs, and educational organizations that may be a good match. Connections is free to students. No personal information is shared with these organizations as part of Connections. If a student is interested in one of the colleges or programs, the student decides if and when to contact them. Students may control specific communication preferences in Connections and may opt-out of Connections at any time.
FAQ
Which students are eligible for BigFuture School and Connections?
Students 13 and over in the United States take the digital PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, and SAT School Day, may access BigFuture School and participate in Connections. (Note: A state, district or school may choose to not provide access to Connections for its students.)
How does FERPA apply to College Board for the SAT Suite?
Like other education service providers to schools, College Board is an outsourced "school official" for provision of certain educational services. Under FERPA, schools may disclose student personally identifiable information (PII) to outsourced "school officials" without parental consent, subject to certain requirements, most importantly that the "school official" only use the student PII to perform services to the school and for no other purposes not allowed by FERPA. Those services are defined in the contract between the school and College Board.
Additionally, a separate provision of FERPA allows schools to disclose "directory information" to third parties without parental consent. Directory information includes, among other things, name, telephone number, address, email address, date and place of birth, grade level, honors, awards received, and participation in activities and sports.
How do students opt-out of Big Future School and/or Connections?
Students may stop using the BigFuture School app at any time. In addition, students can opt out of the Connections feature where they hear from colleges universities, nonprofit scholarship organizations, and nonprofit educational organizations at any time by accessing the opt-out feature within BigFuture School or by contacting College Board’s customer service at (866) 756-7346.
Students may also choose to continue to participate in the Connections program, but opt-out of individual communications channels: emails, hardcopy mailings, in-app notifications.
How does Connections work without the colleges or programs receiving student personally identifiable information?
- Nonprofit colleges and programs tell College Board who they are looking for and College Board matches those requests with students who have opted-in to Connections, based on information the student and their school provided during testing and their test scores.
- In the BigFuture School app, as well as through email and mail (if the student provides email and/or mailing address), the student will see messages sent on behalf of these organizations, who at no point will know the student’s identity. If a student is interested in one of the colleges or programs, the student decides if and when to contact them.
- Students may control specific communication preferences in Connections and may opt-out of Connections at any time. Your student can further personalize their Connections experiences in the app.
Does the Pupil of Public Rights Amendment (PPRA) apply to the data collected from students as part of digital SAT Suite of Assessments?
College Board does not ask about subject matters governed by the Pupil of Public Rights Amendment (PPRA), such as religion, political beliefs or medical or psychological conditions. Thus, it is not applicable.
Are students asked to opt-in to Student Search Service through the digital SAT Suite of Assessments?
Students were previously eligible to opt-in to Student Search Service (a service that connects students to colleges and scholarship organizations) during the administration of the SAT Suite of Assessments. With the transition to digital, students are no longer eligible to do so. Student Search Service will continue to be available to any students who may choose to pursue College Board resources on their own, and may opt-in other ways, including, for example, the BigFuture website and SAT weekend testing.
Today, eligible students taking the digital SAT Suite of Assessments may opt-in to Connections, a new program that connects students to colleges and scholarship organizations but without disclosing any student personally identifiable information. Districts and state may choose to automatically suppress access to Connections for its students.
How will the mobile number that students provide be used?
A student's mobile number will ONLY ever be used to provide students with information to download and access the BigFuture School app, and to alert them when their scores are available in the app. They won't ever receive texts for promotional purposes. In addition, the mobile number students provide during the assessment experience will not be used as part of any texting program from College Board and will never be shared with any outside institution or organization.