In Florida's latest attempt to change its education system, the governing body for the state's public universities is expected to vote Friday on whether college applicants can submit results from an alternative test to the SAT and ACT.
The Classic Learning Test, or CLT, is a college entrance exam popular among Christian schools and conservative political groups. First launched in December 2015, the test is currently accepted by more than 250 colleges and universities across the United States, according to its website.
If board approved, Florida would become the first state university system to accept the CLT, the New York Times reported.
The three-section, two-hour exam tests students on verbal reasoning, grammar and writing as well as quantitative reasoning, and allows students to access scores the same day of their test, the CLT's website states.
The ACT lasts just under three hours and the SAT takes around three hours, by comparison.
The CLT's creators say it "draws on sources that have helped shape the course of Western intellectual thought" and "looks to writings by time-honored authors writing from c. 400 B.C. to the present day," differing from the SAT and ACT's use of passages from more recent decades, according to the test's 2018 technical report.
The Board of Governors meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday. The group is made up of 17 members, 14 of whom were appointed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The upcoming CLT vote marks the latest chapter in an ongoing fight between DeSantis and the College Board, the organization that administers the SAT and Advanced Placement (AP) classes.
Earlier this year, The Florida Department of Education blocked a new AP course for high school students on African American studies, saying it violated state law and lacked educational value. The College Board made changes to the course amid the criticism.
The CLT has already begun making its way into Florida's higher education system. New College of Florida, with its Board of Trustees now dominated by DeSantis-appointed conservatives, was the first public university to signal acceptance of the CLT for college admissions, pending board approval.
New College has become a focal point of the 2024 Republican presidential candidate as he works to rid education in Florida of what he calls "woke" indoctrination.