With a new partnership between Austin ISD and Edgenuity, an online education provider, and a $50,000 dollar contract, high school students are offered free online preparations for the SATs, ACTs, and TSIs.

As of the second week of January, Edgenuity began providing online test prep for high school students in hopes of better preparing students to successfully complete the SAT, ACT, and TSI.

Junior Sofia Ramirez said that free online test prep is awesome.

“I needed to find SAT prep over the summer. I hadn’t put too much effort into it. I didn’t do as well as I would have liked on the PSAT, so I would say that this is a great thing,” she said.

Edgenuity’s online courses include video based instruction, interactive assessment, and frequent assessments.

This offers students flexibility as it allows them to prepare when and where it works best for them.

“All of the test prep that I looked at wasn’t online, so having the ability to take test prep online was nice to hear, considering I don’t have the time for any paper version,” junior Blake Barto said.

In 2010, according to the Department of Research and Evaluation, 38 percent of high school juniors and 55 percent of seniors statewide attempted to take the SAT or ACT.In Austin ISD, 2,801 students took the SAT. The district hopes that the SAT prep program will help improve those numbers, and further increase passing rates in Austin ISD.

“By implementing Edgenuity, AISD can better prepare its students for their college and career,” said Edgenuity CEO Sari Factor. “Our online, research-based curriculum and practice tests personalize the learning experience for each student, diagnosing and targeting areas of opportunity, and prescribing individual study paths that truly meet each student’s learning needs.”

Edgenuity provides an opportunity for the financially impaired students to have an extra resource under their belt without having to deal with the extra financial burden. Online courses such as Kaplan Test Prep starts at $299, with some classes costing more than $1,100.

“Pricing for test prep is ridiculous,” Barto said. “The difference between $299 plus and free is a big. One is just unjustifiable more expensive than the last.”

For students planning to take courses at community colleges or public universities, Edgenuity also provides students with the opportunity to take the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) test prep, a test which is used to gauge if students are college ready in the areas of reading, writing and mathematics.

“Preparing Austin students to graduate ready for college is among our top priorities at AISD. Working with our school communities, we are meeting our goals by helping to meet students where they are, but there is more work to be done,” superintendent Paul Cruz said in a press release. “We must continue to invest in our students’ success by ensuring all students have access to the tools they need.”