The SAT is getting a makeover.

The last time the SAT was given a face lift was in 2005. Out went the perfect score of 1600, in came a required essay portion.

Now, the College Board, which constructs and administers the SAT, is bringing back the perfect score of 1600 and doing away with the essay (or at least making it optional), starting with tests in 2016. Likewise, obscure vocabulary words will be dismissed in favor of more commonplace choices, and test takers will no longer be penalized for guessing. Only correct answers will count toward grading.

David Coleman, president of the College Board, claims the change is for very good reasons, namely that SAT preparation courses offered by the likes of Kaplan and Princeton Review give wealthier students an advantage.

"The College Board cannot stand by while some test-prep providers intimidate parents at all levels of income into the belief that the only way they can secure their child’s success is to pay for costly test preparation and coaching,” said Coleman at an event in Austin, TX, announcing the changes.

As part of equalizing test preparation for all students, the nonprofit Khan Academy will offer free online SAT prep courses available to everyone.

Meanwhile, over at the New York Times, a relatively glowing, in-depth feature examines Coleman's motivations as purely noble in trying to help those financially less fortunate. Says the Times:

And what’s at stake, he often makes clear, is not just the fairness and usefulness of an exam but our nation’s ability to deliver opportunity for all, which, really, is about the soul of the country. 

You heard it, folks. The new SAT = the soul of our country. Eat your heart out, Thomas Jefferson.