Few people know that the idea of testing students for college admission has Hispanic roots.
It was in Madrid in 1575 that a scholar, Juan Huarte de San Juan, proposed that the king establish an examination board to determine university admission. In a book titled Examen de los Ingenios para las Ciencias, Huarte de San Juan argued that admission exams were necessary. Otherwise, 'tis a pity to see a man break his head upon a thing impossible for him to accomplish. That task has continued to be the fundamental responsibility assumed by the College Board and its famous offspring, the SAT, although it was not until 1926 that the admission test as we know it was first administered. Eight percent of all SAT takers listed themselves as Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, or Latino, up from 5 percent in 1987.