The Navy has suspended academic testing at its education centers worldwide due to the loss of some of the tests on several installations and ships, Navy officials said.

The suspension affects testing in the Defense Activities for Non-Traditional Education Services program. All paper-based DANTES testing will have to wait or find an alternate testing location.

In an administrative message released to the fleet, the Navy said the suspension is in effect for all Navy commands authorized to administer paper exams. The list of affected tests is extensive, and includes the Scholastic Aptitude Test, General Education Development, College Level Examination Program exams and the Graduate Record Exam.

According to the Chief of Naval Personnel, the Navy administered 10,673 paper-based tests to 6,662 sailors in 2007.

Officials at the Navy College Office in Naples, Italy, would not disclose any information on how the suspension would affect sailors in Europe or how many servicemembers used the DANTES program last year.

The Navy message said the suspension could affect thousands of sailors, particularly those in need of exam scores required for officer conversion programs such as Seaman to Admiral.

The testing suspension only applies to the DANTES program administered on naval installations and ships. Sailors can use Army or Air Force education centers for testing.

“If they need to take tests that we offer, and they want to travel up here, we’ll accommodate them as much as possible,” said Kate Haworth, education services specialist at the Aviano Air Base Education Center in northern Italy.

Haworth said that the education center in Aviano can administer about 150 tests per week, but added that the testing sessions are usually full. Individuals would have to make prior arrangements if they want to travel out of their area for testing purposes.

There are 25 approved locations for electronic testing, but none in Europe. For now, there is no estimate on how long it will take the Navy to complete its investigation.

“The suspension of paper-based tests will be in effect until the completion of an investigation, which includes a Navy-wide inventory of all DANTES-sponsored academic tests,” said Sharon Anderson, spokeswoman for Chief of Naval Personnel.