A trend analysis was undertaken to determine the extent to which Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) candidates were applying to various groups of colleges in 1960-61, 1966-67, and 1973-74. Its relevance to the question of the SAT score decline involves the effects of two developments on the SAT candidate group: (1) the widening of access to higher education, and (2) the acceptance of either the SAT or the American College Testing Program test (ACT) for admissions by a number of colleges. The first of these factors might be expected to bring in new candidates of less than average ability, and the second might be expected to remove traditional candidates of more than average ability from the candidate group. Although the interpretation of the data is complicated, especially by the lack of knowledge about the relation between college choice and participation in the SAT, the results offer some reason to believe that both of these factors resulted in changes in test taking between 1966-67 and 1971-72 that could have contributed to the SAT score decline. The data do not permit a numerical estimate of the size of these possible effects. (Author/EVH)