SAT Cost: Average Fees Explained

The College Board sets one registration fee for every SAT weekend test date in the United States and U.S. territories. What you end up paying depends on your timing and on how many colleges you send scores to.

All figures on this page come from the College Board test fees page, checked on Oct 11, 2026. The College Board lists these fees for the current testing year, and they can change for the next one, so confirm the amounts on satsuite.collegeboard.org before you register.

The registration fee covers one sitting of the digital SAT at a test center. It also includes free score reports for up to four colleges or scholarship programs, as long as you order them within nine days after your test date.

Students taking the SAT outside the United States and U.S. territories register through the College Board's international testing process, which has its own fee. That fee isn't in our data, so check the international fees page on the College Board site.

These fees come from missing a deadline or changing plans after you register.

Registering after the regular deadline but before the late deadline costs $38 on top of the base fee. Changing your test center costs $34. If you cancel by the change deadline, the fee is $34; canceling after that deadline costs $44. Joining the waitlist for an open seat is free.

The simplest way to avoid all of these is to register early and pick your test center carefully the first time.

Score reports are where costs grow for students applying to many colleges.

Each score report beyond the four free ones costs $15, and so does any report ordered after the nine-day window. A rush report costs $31, and the regular report fee is added on top. Scores from older tests are archived, and retrieving them costs $35 plus the report fee. If you want to confirm your score was calculated correctly, score verification costs $55.

Before paying for rush delivery, check each college's score deadline. Some schools accept self-reported scores during application review.

Eligible students can use an SAT fee waiver. The College Board says a fee waiver lets you take the SAT for free and gives you other benefits, including:

• waived late registration and cancellation fees
• unlimited free score reports
• a fee waiver for score verification

Eligibility is generally based on family income or participation in programs for lower-income students. Talk to your school counselor about getting a fee waiver code, or request one directly from the College Board. You can redeem one fee waiver code, or receive benefits directly through the College Board, once per lifetime, so request it at least 1 to 2 weeks before the registration deadline.

Some states and districts also offer the SAT free during the school day. If your school offers SAT School Day, you may not need to register for a weekend test at all.

Each sitting is billed separately, so taking the test twice means paying the registration fee twice. Add late fees and extra score reports, and the total can grow quickly. Plan your dates around regular deadlines and send free reports within the nine-day window to keep the total close to the base fee.