College Board to boost SAT security to combat cheating

PITTSBURGH -- The firm that owns the SAT college-entrance exam is boosting security worldwide after test-stealing and other cheating in recent years.

The College Board said it's reducing the number of international testing dates from six per year to four for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years. It said the move will reduce opportunities for test content to be stolen.

The New York-based college entrance exam provider announced Wednesday it is taking steps to prevent past cheaters from retaking tests.

In addition, it said it will alert law-enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad of companies and people it suspects of illegally obtaining test content.

Other planned reforms include an increase in audits of test centers worldwide and steps to make it easier for students and educators to report suspected cheating anonymously.

"We are unwavering in our commitment to SAT test security, and we will continue to confront any efforts to undermine it, including the unauthorized disclosure of test questions and test forms," Peter Schwartz, the College Board's chief administrative officer and general counsel, said in a written statement.

A frequent critic of the College Board said the group isn't doing enough to prevent recycled tests from flooding an online black market where foreign students can buy copies of tests already given in the United States before they're recycled and given to students overseas.