Baylor Pays Students to Retake SAT
Posted on October 15, 2008
Filed Under News, Scandalous!, The Daily Prereq | By Jessica Gross
Last June, Baylor University offered prefrosh money to retake their SATs. Anyone who retested got $300 to the campus bookstore. Those whose scores jumped at least 50 points got $1000 in merit aid.
Wait, students who were already admitted were encouraged to take their admittance exam again? Confusion!
As usual, outrage ensued. People who oppose standardized testing claim Baylor had ulterior, ranking-based motives. As quoted in a New York Times article, Robert Schaeffer, FairTest’s public education director, called Baylor’s move “a straightforward, cynical attempt to manipulate test score averages to boost Baylor’s rankings.” (The U.S. News & World Report takes freshmen’s SAT scores into account.)
Equally predictably, Baylor is defending its decision. Officials claim it’s all about the merit aid to students.
Curious that merit aid must be tied to SAT scores.
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