Missouri will no longer pay for all public high school juniors to take the ACT for free after Gov. Eric Greitens cut $4 million in assessment funding.

The state of Missouri began offering the free college entrance exam to all juniors in 2015.

Some public high schools are currently trying to find ways to pay for it themselves.

“I feel like it kind of sucks for our class because the classes before us got the ACT without having to pay for it and now that we have to pay for it, a lot of people aren’t going to take it,” Claire Sunderman said.  

This has caused many students like Allison Brown to become concerned.

“I feel like some kids won’t take the opportunity to take the test now.”

The ACT is one of the main tests students need to get into college.

“I think it’s a shame because it was a really good resource for a lot of students who wouldn’t be able to pay for the ACT otherwise,” Courtney Faasen said. “You also need those scores to get into college.”

The ACT is very important to universities because admission officers use it to judge student academic preparedness for college.

Some students can’t afford to pay for it and this is a huge announcement that could affect multiple people, but districts like Pattonville can request fee waivers from the national ACT organization for students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of poverty.

Students can still sign up for the ACT through the testing website. The only difference is the students have to pay for the test themselves.

All students can still register for the ACT Prep class and attend the free ACT evening classes. Both options are free and open to everyone in the school.