


More recently, the GMAT published a 2009 study affirming the fairness of its automated essay scorer, IntelliMetric. In 1999, the ETS (Educational Testing Service) offered one of the first automatic essay scorers, called e-rater, and testing companies have had more than 15 years to improve upon that earlier model. If only there were another way to grade essays and use the $2.4 million for other meaningful purposes…Įnter the automated essay scorer, a mere theory in 1966 that has grown into a reality for many institutions. Using these metrics, the College Board spends $2.4 million each year paying graders to evaluate essays, not considering the cost of administering, transporting, scanning, and storing essays, or paying a third grader if the scores of the first two differed significantly. Put another way, each essay costs $1.50 for two graders to evaluate each student essay. Assuming that a grader reads one essay every 3 minutes, 800 essays a week, and is paid $15 per hour, one grader can grade 40,000 essays in a year at a cost of $30,000. Since the essay was first offered with the writing section in 2005, the College Board has relied on human graders to evaluate the student work. If every student submitted an essay, the College Board needed to grade 1.6 million essays.

In 2016, around 1.6 million students took the SAT (either old or new) at least once. Admissions Testing Policy Updates in response to COVID-19.
