Table 133.

SAT score averages of college-bound seniors, by selected student characteristics: Selected years, 1995–96 through 2005–06

Selected student characteristic	1995–96			1999–2000			2002–031		2003–04			2004–051		2005–06
	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Percentage distribution	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Percentage distribution	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Percentage distribution	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Writing score2	Percentage distribution
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
All students	505	508	100	505	514	100	507	519	508	518	100	508	520	503	518	497	100
High school rank
Top decile	591	606	22	589	608	‡	585	607	584	602	29	585	606	580	604	577	31
Second decile	530	539	22	528	543	‡	522	539	522	537	24	523	540	516	537	511	25
Second quintile	494	496	28	493	500	‡	486	494	486	494	22	488	499	484	498	476	20
Third quintile	455	448	24	455	453	‡	449	449	449	451	20	452	455	—	—	—	—
Fourth quintile	429	418	4	425	419	‡	420	417	422	421	4	425	424	—	—	—	—
Fifth quintile	411	401	1	408	401	‡	410	410	415	418	1	426	430	—	—	—	—
Bottom three quintiles3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	443	449	435	23
High school grade point average
A+ (97–100)	617	632	6	610	628	7	607	625	606	620	6	607	625	602	621	599	7
A (93–96)	573	583	14	567	582	16	566	583	567	580	18	570	585	563	582	559	18
A- (90–92)	545	554	15	540	553	17	538	552	537	549	17	541	555	534	552	529	18
B (80–89)	486	485	49	482	486	47	480	485	480	486	47	484	491	479	489	471	46
C (70–79)	432	426	15	428	426	12	425	424	429	431	11	430	432	426	428	414	11
D, E, or F (below 70)	414	408	#	405	406	#	416	430	421	446	#	415	439	406	413	389	#
Intended college major
Agriculture/natural resources	491	484	2	490	486	1	484	482	484	483	1	487	486	481	485	469	1
Architecture/environmental design	492	519	3	494	524	2	483	511	479	510	2	495	527	488	528	485	3
Arts: visual/performing	520	497	6	518	502	8	514	500	517	501	8	521	506	516	502	507	9
Biological sciences	546	545	6	544	548	5	543	553	544	552	6	547	558	540	554	532	6
Business and commerce	483	500	13	487	510	14	489	512	486	509	13	491	515	486	511	481	15
Communications	527	497	4	526	505	4	524	506	525	505	4	527	509	522	504	520	4
Computer or information sciences	497	522	3	499	533	6	503	535	504	532	5	508	535	503	534	482	4
Education	487	477	8	483	481	9	482	483	483	482	8	486	488	480	484	478	8
Engineering	525	569	8	523	573	8	525	574	525	573	9	529	579	519	577	506	8
Foreign/classical languages	556	534	#	558	539	1	564	545	570	545	1	575	551	572	549	563	1
General/interdisciplinary	576	553	#	562	545	#	547	539	547	533	#	546	535	542	532	532	#
Health and allied services	500	505	19	497	505	16	489	498	487	495	17	490	501	485	498	483	18
Home economics	458	452	#	462	462	#	462	462	460	461	#	463	466	462	466	461	#
Language and literature	605	545	1	608	552	1	603	550	603	547	2	606	552	597	541	584	2
Library and archival sciences	554	512	#	556	511	#	572	512	567	515	#	577	511	579	509	542	#
Mathematics	552	628	1	551	630	1	545	626	541	621	1	545	626	539	624	537	1
Military sciences	503	505	#	505	512	#	513	516	516	520	1	522	526	510	521	487	1
Philosophy/religion/theology	560	536	#	560	539	1	562	544	560	539	1	561	542	557	537	535	1
Physical sciences	575	595	1	569	592	1	563	588	564	587	2	565	591	557	589	542	2
Public affairs and services	458	448	3	459	454	3	462	458	464	459	3	465	463	462	461	454	3
Social sciences and history	532	509	11	532	513	11	531	514	534	515	10	540	522	539	519	525	9
Technical and vocational	435	441	1	442	452	1	441	450	443	453	1	445	456	437	454	421	1
Undecided	500	507	7	512	521	7	516	528	514	526	6	517	530	512	530	502	3
Degree-level goal
Certificate program	434	439	1	439	453	1	441	456	441	456	1	445	463	443	462	435	1
Associate's degree	422	415	2	420	419	2	417	416	417	417	1	420	421	416	420	409	1
Bachelor's degree	476	476	23	478	483	25	475	481	474	479	24	481	487	477	487	469	25
Master's degree	514	518	29	515	526	31	513	524	511	520	29	516	526	512	525	505	30
Doctor's or related degree	548	552	24	547	554	22	542	552	540	547	21	542	552	539	553	532	20
Other	430	438	1	442	454	1	441	453	439	457	1	442	464	439	456	436	1
Undecided	502	503	20	508	514	19	514	523	513	521	23	517	527	515	528	508	22
Family income4
Less than $10,000	429	444	4	425	447	‡	420	444	422	450	5	426	458	429	457	427	4
$10,000, but less than $20,000	456	464	8	447	460	‡	437	452	440	457	8	443	463	445	465	440	7
$20,000, but less than $30,000	482	482	10	471	478	‡	460	467	459	467	10	463	474	462	474	454	8
$30,000, but less than $40,000	497	495	12	490	493	‡	480	484	478	482	11	480	487	478	488	470	10
$40,000, but less than $50,000	509	507	10	503	505	‡	495	498	493	496	9	496	500	493	501	483	8
$50,000, but less than $60,000	517	517	9	511	515	‡	504	508	501	504	9	505	509	500	509	490	9
$60,000, but less than $70,000	524	525	7	517	522	‡	511	514	507	510	8	511	515	505	515	496	8
$70,000, but less than $80,000	531	533	6	524	530	‡	518	523	515	518	8	517	522	511	521	502	9
$80,000 to $100,000	541	544	7	536	543	‡	529	536	527	530	12	529	534	523	534	514	13
More than $100,000	560	569	9	558	571	‡	555	568	553	562	20	554	565	549	564	543	24
Highest level of parental education
No high school diploma	414	439	4	413	442	4	413	443	415	445	5	419	452	418	445	418	4
High school diploma	475	474	31	472	477	33	470	475	469	474	33	471	479	467	478	460	31
Associate's degree	489	487	7	488	491	9	487	491	486	490	9	489	494	484	493	474	8
Bachelor's degree	525	529	25	525	533	29	525	534	523	531	28	527	536	522	536	514	30
Graduate degree	556	558	23	558	566	25	559	569	558	564	25	561	570	558	571	552	27

—Not available. # Rounds to zero. ‡ Reporting standards not met. 1 Percentage distribution not reported since this year had less than 80 percent combined unit and item response rate. 2 Writing data are based on students who took the SAT writing section, which was introduced in March 2005. 3 In 2005, the College Board reported third, fourth, and fifth quintiles as the bottom three quintiles instead of reporting them separately as in previous years. 4 Because income categories have not been adjusted for inflation over time, the distribution of students has shifted toward the higher income categories. Differences between specific categories over time should be interpreted with caution. NOTE: Data are for seniors who took the SAT any time during their high school years through March of their senior year. If a student took a test more than once, the most recent score was used. The SAT was formerly known as the Scholastic Assess­ment Test and the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Possible scores on each part of the SAT range from 200 to 800. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and survey item nonresponse. SOURCE: College Entrance Examination Board, College-Bound Seniors: Total Group Profile [National] Report, selected years, 1995–96 through 2005–06, retrieved August 29, 2006, from http://www.collegeboard.com/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2006/reports.html. (This table was prepared August 2006.)