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, PSAT 10 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 numbers. 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 used by the student and monitor and capture actions taken by the student when using Bluebook to ensure the device is compatible for test security purposes and for test validation and research, as well as to develop and improve College Board products and services. College Board may disclose this information but only in aggregated and de-identified form. 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
- 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 state government agencies that are operating direct admissions programs on behalf of their state public higher education institutions.
- 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.
BIGFUTURE SCHOOL AND CONNECTIONS
College Board's SAT Suite includes educational services to help students navigate postsecondary 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 in the United States 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 participate in Connections, a new optional feature exclusively for eligible students in the United States that allows them to hear from nonprofit colleges, scholarship programs, and government agencies administering educational programs 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 stop participating in Connections at any time.