If cost is the reason you are testing once instead of twice, or not at all, read this before you decide. Both College Board and ACT cover up to two sittings for students who qualify, and the waivers reach past the test itself into score reports and, in College Board's case, college application fees. ACT's own 2026-27 fee waiver document says quantities are limited and that once funds are exhausted MyACT stops accepting the codes, which is a reason not to leave it late. That sentence is in the PDF rather than on the main page.

The criteria are broader than most people assume. You do not have to be receiving cash assistance, and you do not have to ask anyone for a favor.

What an SAT fee waiver covers

College Board lists these benefits:

• Two free SAT tests
• Unlimited score reports to send to colleges
• Waived application fees at participating colleges. College Board's requirement is that you "are a senior in high school (or up to one year out of high school)", have taken at least one SAT, and have a score or are waiting for one
• Free CSS Profile applications for financial aid at participating schools
• Reduced fees on score verification reports, and no late registration charges or cancellation penalties. US students testing abroad pay no international fee on the free tests, though a test-centre fee at some non-US centres is not covered

The application-fee benefit is the one most easily left on the table. Application fees run to real money across a list of eight or ten colleges, and at participating institutions a College Board waiver removes them outright.

One limit worth knowing: you may redeem one fee waiver code, or receive benefits directly from College Board, once in your life. That is one code, not one test.

What an ACT fee waiver covers

ACT lists these:

• The registration fee for up to two ACT tests, plus the add-on fees for the optional Science and Writing sections
• One score report to your high school and up to six colleges, with unlimited score reports free after registration
• Free access to ACT's official self-paced course, and free My Answer Key on eligible test dates
• The ability to REQUEST a college application fee waiver or deferral, using a form you may submit for as many colleges as you apply to. Unlike the College Board benefit this is a request, and ACT states that colleges are not obliged to grant it

Two limits sit alongside that list. ACT's fee-waiver document states that a waiver cannot be used for additional fees, products or services, and that anything it does not cover has to be paid by card before your registration will submit. A late registration fee is one of those, so registering after the regular deadline costs a waiver student that fee out of pocket. So does a test-date change fee, even when a used waiver is carried forward.

The Science and Writing point matters if you have been leaving Science off to save the add-on fee. Under a waiver that decision goes back to being about whether Science helps your application, which is a different question, covered in the enhanced ACT composite is three sections now.

Who qualifies

College Board lists SAT fee waivers for 11th and 12th grade students in the United States and its territories, and US citizens abroad, who meet any one of these:

• Enrolled in or eligible for the National School Lunch Program
• Family income within the USDA Food and Nutrition Service Income Eligibility Guidelines
• Receiving public assistance
• Enrolled in a federal, state or local program serving students from low-income families, such as a Federal TRIO program like Upward Bound
• Unhoused, or living in federally subsidized public housing or a foster home
• A ward of the state, or an orphan

Any single one of those qualifies you. Students often assume all of them must apply, or that a family which is managing month to month does not count. The income guideline is a published number, and it is worth checking against rather than guessing.

One caveat on the first criterion. At schools in the Community Eligibility Provision, where every student receives free meals regardless of household income, College Board says that enrolment alone does not establish fee waiver eligibility. Students at those schools qualify on one of the other criteria instead.

ACT runs its own eligibility requirements for 2026-27 and its own form. The two programs are separate, so qualifying for one does not automatically enroll you in the other, and it is worth applying for both if you are testing on both.

How to get one

Two routes, and the second exists because the first is not always available.

Ask your school counselor. Counsellors hold and distribute fee waiver codes, and that is the simplest route if you have a counselor you can reach.

Or apply directly. College Board takes a fee waiver request form from students, asking you to name an adult who can confirm your eligibility, and emails a decision. Submit it a week or two before you plan to register, since a decision is not instant. College Board confirms this route for eligible students including homeschooled ones, which is the case where it matters most.

The direct form is not open to students living outside the United States and its territories. US citizens abroad have to get a code through a school.

Do not misstate your eligibility. College Board says providing false information may result in a ban on your student account.

The deadline that catches people

Neither board says a waiver extends a registration deadline, and you should not assume one does. If you are waiting on a counselor to hand you a code, that wait runs against the same closing date everyone else has.

Work backwards from the deadline you are aiming at rather than from when you expect to get the code. The dates for the next ACT are in every deadline for the September 19 ACT.

Both boards revise this between cycles

Benefits, eligibility criteria and the application routes above are from College Board's and ACT's own fee waiver pages, checked in August 2026. Both programs are revised between cycles and each board's page is the authority rather than this one. Nothing here is a promise that you will be approved.