Governor Kristi Noem signed an executive order to provide flexibility for South Dakota high school graduates pursuing South Dakota Opportunity Scholarships.

Executive Order 2020-31 suspends requirements for Opportunity Scholarship applicants who did not have the chance to take an ACT test this previous spring or summer. Students will have the option to replace the ACT requirement with the equivalent or higher score from their SmarterBalanced test. For students attending college this fall, the SmarterBalanced test would have been taken in the spring of their junior year of high school.