The Illinois State Board of Education, also known as the ISBE, plans to administer the ACT in public schools beginning with the 2024-25 school year. College Board currently holds a contract to administer the SAT as the required standardized test with the ISBE, which is scheduled to expire on June 30. 

Companies were already responding to the change, even before ISBE officially confirmed the switch to the ACT, said James Fleming, vice president of HorizonEducation, which provides ACT and SAT preparation resources for students and teachers across 18 states.

“We’ve already emailed all our Illinois customers to let them know that we can also support them with ACT prep materials,” Fleming said.

ISBE declined requests for an interview because the contract procurement process is still ongoing.

Sophomore Lilian Huang planned on taking the ACT before she learned about a possible switch in the standardized test, she said.

“Thetests are kind of similar, I don’t think it’d be a dramatic difference,”said Huang. “But [students] would still have to change their study habits and get used to a different form.”