In SAS^® 9.4M0 (TS1M0) to SAS^® 9.4M6 (TS1M6) and SAS^® Viya^® 3.5, the default value for the YEARCUTOFF= system option is 1926. Beginning in SAS^® 9.4M7 (TS1M7) and later, along with the SAS^® Viya^® platform (excluding SAS^® Viya^® 3.5), the default value for the YEARCUTOFF= system option is 1940. SAS releases earlier than SAS 9.4M0 have a default value of 1920 for the YEARCUTOFF= system option.   

The YEARCUTOFF= system option is used when processing two-digit years to determine the century for SAS date values. The YEARCUTOFF= option specifies the first year of a 100-year span. For example, using the default value of YEARCUTOFF=1926, two-digit years of 26 through 99 are assigned a century prefix of "19" (for example, 1926–1999), and two-digit years from 00 through 25 are assigned a century prefix of "20" (for example, 2000–2025).

You can change the value of YEARCUTOFF by adding an option to your SAS config file (affecting all users and programs) or by using an OPTIONS statement in your affected SAS program. SAS recommends that you set the value to 1940 to be consistent with the shipped default value beginning in SAS^® 9.4M7 (TS1M7) and beyond, along with the SAS Viya platform. 

To check the current value of YEARCUTOFF, run the following SAS code:

proc options option=yearcutoff;

run;

SAS^® 9.4

To affect only the current SAS program, add the OPTIONS statement at the beginning of your code:

options yearcutoff=1940;

To affect all SAS programs and users in the SAS 9.4 environment, add the following setting to the SAS config file:

-yearcutoff 1940

For detailed information about the YEARCUTOFF= system option, see YEARCUTOFF= System Option.

SAS Viya 3.5

The issue with the default setting of YEARCUTOFF=1926 by default in SAS Viya 3.5 includes SAS^® Visual Analytics. Until a fix is provided, complete one of the following workarounds:

• Complete date calculations in SAS code (MVA) by ensuring that dates are fully resolved before loading data into SAS^® Cloud Analytic Services.
• Use four-digit years in the source data.

These approaches ensure that dashboards and reports in SAS Visual Analytics display and use the correct dates.

For detailed information about the YEARCUTOFF= system option, see YEARCUTOFF= System Option.

SAS Viya Platform (Excluding SAS Viya 3.5)

The value of the YEARCUTOFF= system option is used for new SAS Cloud Analytic Services sessions. The YEARCUTOFF= session option overrides the value of the YEARCUTOFF= system option within a SAS Cloud Analytic Services session. The ability to control the YEARCUTOFF= SAS Cloud Analytic Services session option with the SESSOPTS= CAS statement option, or using the sesssionProp.setSessOpt action, is available beginning in the SAS Viya platform 2026.02.

For detailed information about the YEARCUTOFF= system option, see YEARCUTOFF= System Option