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Institutions of higher education across the nation have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has not only required them to adapt teaching methods and practices, but also admissions processes and criteria. The USMMA is faced with the dilemma of how to ensure the selection of qualified candidates, given the current pandemic situation. USMMA admissions rules currently require applicants to qualify in either the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) or the American College Testing Program (ACT) standardized examinations and explicitly provides that no waivers of the scholastic requirements will be granted. The USMMA recognizes that prospective students may find it impractical or impossible to take the SAT and ACT, but without an emergency waiver, the USMMA would be unable to accept students without SAT and ACT test scores because of the rules current prohibition against waiver of the scholastic requirements. After considering the information provided in the request, the risks posed to maintaining a vibrant and qualified merchant marine, and assessing the ongoing hardships stemming from the public health emergency and the potential value this revision will bring to possible future events, MARAD has decided that there is good cause to issue this final rule revising its regulation to include a special emergency waiver of the scholastic requirements.

Overall Description of Deadline: The deadline is driven by the need to inform Congressional sponsor and their student nominees of the scholastic requirement waiver in time for prospective students to learn that they qualify to apply for admission to the USMMA. Without this expedited deadline, the USMMA may lose the opportunity to attract the very best qualified students to other institutions of higher learning that are already accepting applicants without standardize test scores.