SAT Subject Tests were a set of multiple-choice standardized tests given by The College Board on individual topics, typically taken to improve a student's credentials for college admissions in the United States. For most of their existence, from their introduction in 1937 until 1994, the SAT Subject Tests were known as Achievement Tests, and until January 2005, they were known as SAT II: Subject Tests. They are still commonly known by these names. Unlike the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) that the College Board offers, which are intended to measure general aptitude for academic studies, the Achievement Tests are intended to measure the level of knowledge and understanding in a variety of specific subjects. Like the SAT, the scores for an Achievement Test range from 200 (lowest) to 800 (highest).
Many colleges used the SAT Subject Tests for admission, course placement, and to advise students about course selection. Achievement tests were generally only required by the most selective of colleges. Some of those colleges named one or more specific Achievement Tests that they required for admission, while others allowed applicants to choose which tests to take. Students typically chose which tests to take depending upon college entrance requirements for the schools to which they planned to apply.
Fewer students took achievement tests compared to the SAT. In 1976, for instance, there were 300,000 taking one or more achievement tests, while 1.4 million took the SAT. Rates of taking the tests varied by geography; in 1974, for instance, a half of students taking the SAT in New England also took one or more achievement tests, while nationwide only a quarter did. The number of achievement tests offered varied over time. Subjects were dropped or added based on educational changes and demand. In the early 1990s, for instance, Asian languages were added so as not to disadvantage Asian-American students, especially on the West Coast.
On January 19, 2021, the College Board discontinued Subject Tests. This was effective immediately in the United States, and the tests were to be phased out by the following summer for international students.
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