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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 AssessĀment 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.) |