Board sets path to waive Regents' Test

By Laura Diamond

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia’s public colleges can apply for waivers to be exempt from giving students the Regents’ Test, under a new rule the State Board of Regents approved Tuesday.

The exam has been around since 1973 and is used to make sure students have basic reading and writing skills. Colleges can now be excused from the exam if they meet several criteria, such as showing they have other assessments to measure students’ literacy skills.

Colleges are developing such assessments as part of an overhaul of the state’s core curriculum, which are courses all students must take. The curriculum changes were approved in October and will be implemented over the next two years.

Georgia’s 35 public colleges and universities administer about 50,000 Regents’ Tests each year, according to figures from the University System of Georgia.