After a student shared her experience and challenges trying to access the SAT locally with the board of trustees, Imperial County Office of Education worked swiftly to ensure barriers to the test were addressed.
In July, the COE introduced its SAT Test Center, located at its El Centro site, with the first administration taking place in August. This was a significant development, as in recent years it wasn’t uncommon for students to have to travel more than 100 miles outside of the county to take the exam.
“Bringing an SAT test center back to Imperial County is an exciting step forward in expanding educational access for our youth,” said Imperial County Superintendent J. Todd Finnell in a press release. “We are very proud of Southwest High School graduate, Alexis Huynh, for advocating on behalf of local students, and grateful to the Imperial County Board of Education for making this happen.”
Imperial COE Senior Director of Higher Education and Adult Learning Denise Cabanilla explained that the region’s former testing sites had shuttered around the time that the state university systems opted to eliminate standardized tests — including the SAT and ACT — as admissions requirements.
Leaders of the California State University system formalized this decision in spring 2022 and the University of California’s (UC) governing body voted in spring 2020 to phase out the exams’ use over a multi-year period. Though the SAT isn’t needed for these admissions decisions, some colleges request to use scores for course placement, and many non-public and out-of-state universities still utilize the test, and so demand has remained. It is also considered for some merit-based scholarships.
Taking the SAT
The SAT, administered by the College Board, measures skills including reading, writing and math and is meant to assess students’ college readiness. It is primarily a multiple-choice exam taken on a computer.
Cabanilla said that the COE engaged in conversations with the College Board over the course of a few months during the 2025–26 academic year and converted a conference room to meet their guidelines. COE staff — familiar faces in the community — will serve as test proctors.
Imperial County is a largely rural, desert region in Southern California. For this reason, the room’s air conditioning and strong internet capabilities are critical features to support test takers.
Cabanilla shared that the COE team is excited about offering the service to increase the number of students who can participate, take the test multiple times and see improved performance. She noted that the COE is dedicated to ensuring students have access to fee waivers and underscored how, by lessening travel time and costs for families, students may be able to approach test day with more energy and focus.
COEs providing a space like this doesn’t appear to be common practice, but Cabanilla explained that the step to help prepare students for life, college and career “aligns completely” with Imperial COE’s mission.
“We feel so fortunate and grateful to be able to provide this type of service for our community to reduce those barriers and ensure that all students have access to the tools that they’re going to need as they pursue life beyond high school,” she said.
The new space opens at a time when the UC system appears poised to revisit the role of the SAT in freshmen admissions and some professors are calling for the return of standardized exams as a requirement.
