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After the Trump administration criticized the use of what it called “racial proxies,” the group behind the SAT shut down a way for universities to identify promising applicants from disadvantaged communities.
Sept. 4, 2025, 5:03 p.m. ET
When the Supreme Court banned affirmative action in college admissions in 2023, many universities began looking more closely at socioeconomic status to admit more diverse classes without considering race.
Scores of schools turned to a tool created by the College Board, which administers the SAT exam, to identify promising high school students from disadvantaged neighborhoods and schools.
This week, the College Board quietly notified schools that it was eliminating the tool, called Landscape. The board provided little explanation for its decision.
The move comes at a time when the Trump administration has stepped up its attacks on diversity efforts in education, and less than a month after the White House said it would be on the lookout for schools using “hidden racial proxies” to seek out minority applicants.
It is unclear whether Landscape was being used for that purpose. The tool was an online dashboard where college admission officers could enter an applicant’s address and high school, and see a wealth of data on the community where the student lived, including median family income, the percentage of single-parent households and the crime rate. Racial demographics were not included.
The College Board declined requests for interviews or additional information about what led to the cancellation.
