National Press Release
August 15, 2001
| Note to Editors/Reporters: This news release and accompanying documents report information about students in the high school graduating class of 2001 who took the ACT Assessment. States, districts and schools receive similar information about their students. However, ACT releases only national and selected state data; ACT does not release local district or school data. You must contact district and school offices for local information. |
ACT Average Composite Score Steady for Fifth Straight Year
- Nearly Half of Tested Students Ready for Selective or Highly Selective Colleges
- Reported GPAs Suggest Possible Grade Inflation
- More Students Taking College-Prep Courses
- Record Number of ACT-Tested High School Graduates
IOWA CITY, Iowa—The average national ACT composite score held steady at 21.0 for the fifth straight year, maintaining the incremental gains made by students on the college entrance and placement exam during the 1990s. The results indicate that nearly half of college-bound students have scores within the range of those typically required for admission to most selective or highly selective colleges. At the same time, 18 percent—nearly one in five—have scores that indicate they are not ready for college-level coursework.
The average national ACT composite score showed steady gains from 1992 to 1997, when it rose from 20.6 to the current level of 21.0. It has not declined in 12 years, even though the number of students taking the admissions and placement exam has grown by nearly 30 percent during this period.
“When the number of high school seniors who take the entrance exam expands, the pool of ACT-tested students becomes more heterogeneous,” said ACT President Richard L. Ferguson. “We are likely adding students from across a wider academic range than in previous years, including some students who might not have considered going to college in the past. In this light, the fact that the average ACT score has either grown or stayed steady over the past decade is quite positive.”
The ACT is scored on a scale of 1 to 36, with 36 being the highest possible score. A record number of nearly 1.1 million students who graduated in the Class of 2001 took the ACT Assessment.
The ACT Assessment is a curriculum-based achievement exam that measures students on what they have learned in school. Students' scores reflect the skills they possess in four academic areas measured by the ACT Assessment—English, reading, mathematics and science reasoning. Because of its curriculum-based nature, many colleges use ACT scores to place students into appropriate courses for their academic skill level.
Among the students in the Class of 2001 who took the ACT Assessment:
- 14 percent earned a composite score of 27 or higher, which is within the range of scores typically required for admission to most highly selective colleges and universities.
- 44 percent attained composite scores of 22 or higher, which is the typical requirement for colleges with selective admissions policies.
- 82 percent achieved composite scores of 17 or higher, which is the typical requirement for colleges with liberal (18 or higher) or open (17 or higher) admissions policies.
On the negative side, however, 18 percent of ACT-tested graduates attained composite scores of 16 or lower. These scores suggest the students are not ready to perform at the college level and are likely struggling with such fundamental academic skills as:
- Identifying the purpose of a particular sentence in a paragraph
- Solving routine, one-step arithmetic problems
- Reading tables and graphs
- Drawing simple conclusions about the main idea of a paragraph
- Understanding basic terms in science
- Identifying direct relationships between variables in a simple experiment
More than one-quarter (28%) of students who report that they did not take a core curriculum of college-preparatory classes scored 16 or lower on the ACT Assessment, again pointing out the importance of taking higher-level courses in high school.
| 16 or lower |
17-19 | 20-21 | 22-26 | 27 or higher | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total group | 18% | 21% | 16% | 30% | 14% |
| Core curriculum** or more |
12% | 20% | 16% | 34% | 17% |
| Less than core curriculum |
28% | 26% | 15% | 22% | 8% |
* National average composite score
** At least four years of English and three years each of math (algebra and above), social sciences, and natural sciences
“There is great diversity in higher education in America,” said Ferguson, “and we're finding that the large majority of students who want to attend college can find institutions of higher learning whose academic requirements match their level of preparation. Unfortunately, there remains a significant number of graduating seniors who want to go to college but simply aren't prepared. This fact shows the need for early diagnosis of academic weaknesses and an integrated system of educational and career planning that begins before high school.
“Clearly, the scores indicate that some students are still not meeting the learning standards being set for them,” Ferguson said. “Setting standards is important. We must also, however, provide counseling and classroom experiences to assist students in meeting those standards.”
ACT works with school districts across the country, providing an integrated approach to educational and career planning beginning in eighth grade. This enables educators, students and parents to track a student's academic progress in light of education and career goals. ACT also provides schools with information that explains how scores relate to learning standards and suggests instructional techniques and classroom activities to help move students to higher levels of achievement.
Reported GPAs Indicate Grade Inflation
ACT-tested graduates in the class of 2001 reported higher GPAs than last year's class, continuing a trend of rising GPAs over the past several years. This trend is not paralleled in academic achievement as reflected by ACT scores, which have remained steady for the last five years, suggesting possible grade inflation. The average GPA has increased in each of the past five years, rising from 3.14 (on a 4-point scale) in 1996 to 3.22 currently.
“The grade inflation suggested by these figures,” said Ferguson, “points out the importance of an objective, standardized measure of academic achievement such as the ACT Assessment. It is clear that a student who receives an 'A' in algebra may know more or less than another student receiving an 'A' in algebra in another school, or even in another classroom. Colleges need an objective means to determine how well prepared a student is for college-level coursework. It is important for fair admissions decisions, and it is important to the individual student, since ACT scores are used to place incoming freshmen into classes in which they are prepared to succeed.”
The evidence of grade inflation, however, has not changed the fact that students who earn higher grades in school tend to perform better on academic achievement exams such as the ACT Assessment. Graduating seniors reporting a GPA of 3.5 or higher earned an average composite score of 24.1 on this year's ACT Assessment, well above the national average. In comparison, those reporting a GPA of 3.0 to 3.49 earned an average score of 20.6, which is below the national average. Those with lower reported GPAs fared significantly worse.
“Students who study hard in high school and get higher grades are, by and large, more academically prepared for college than students with lower GPAs,” said Ferguson.
More Students Report Taking College-Prep Courses
One of the most important uses colleges make of ACT scores is to place students into classes for which they are academically prepared to succeed. Lack of preparedness for college-level coursework is one of the primary reasons first-year college students leave school before their second year.
A key predictor of students' achievement on the ACT Assessment and their subsequent success in college is the completion of college-preparatory courses during high school. Students who have taken a core curriculum of college-prep courses—defined as at least four years of English and three years each of math (algebra and above), social sciences, and natural sciences (with lab experience)—tend to score significantly higher on the ACT Assessment than those who have not completed this core curriculum. This is true across all gender, ethnic and socioeconomic boundaries.
The percentage of ACT-tested graduates who participated in a core curriculum is rising, this year to a record of nearly 64 percent. Ten years ago, that figure was just above half (51%) of the students.
“The best preparation for college and for taking the ACT continues to be the same—taking a challenging series of core courses in high school and studying hard,” said Ferguson.
“Mathematics is the most notable area in which more advanced coursework translates into better preparation for college and therefore higher ACT scores,” said Ferguson. “Students who take more years and higher levels of math tend to earn significantly higher scores than those who do not.”
The results also suggest that the traditional core courses of Algebra I, Algebra II and geometry may not be enough for a student who wishes to have his or her choice of colleges. Students who reported taking only these math courses (around one-fifth of the tested students) scored well below the national average on the ACT overall. In comparison, those who added trigonometry and at least one other advanced math course scored significantly above the national average.
“Two years of algebra and one year of geometry alone are simply not sufficient preparation for many college programs,” Ferguson noted. “A student needs to complete higher-level math courses to be prepared for the more rigorous college-level work.”
Additional Data of Interest from the 2001 ACT Report
Gender Gap Narrows
The gap between male and female ACT composite scores has narrowed to two-tenths of a point after increasing to three-tenths of a point a year ago. Male students perform slightly better than female students overall, with males earning an average score of 21.1 this year, down from 21.2 last year, and females remaining even at 20.9. This gap has narrowed considerably in the past decade—in 1991, males' lead over females was nearly three times bigger than in 2001. As in the past, more females than males took the ACT Assessment in 2001.
As has traditionally been the case, males outscored females in the areas of mathematics and science reasoning, while females again performed better than males in the areas of English and reading.
Slight Slip in Minority Scores
Among the different racial/ethnic groups, Caucasians scored the highest average composite at 21.8, followed by Asian-Americans at 21.7, Puerto Rican/Hispanic students at 19.4, American Indian/Alaskan Natives at 18.8, Mexican-American/Chicano students at 18.5, and African-American students at 16.9. Test scores for racial/ethnic minority students (with the exception of Asian-Americans) dropped slightly since last year. Scores for both Caucasian- and Asian-Americans remained steady.
One striking piece of information found in the ACT data is that the test scores of minority students who take a core college-prep curriculum are significantly higher than those of other minority students who take less than core. The differences again illustrate the importance of good educational planning during the middle school and high school years so that students take appropriate college-prep courses.
“These differences reflect the realities of our society and the differences in resources, school districts, teachers and curricula,” said Ferguson. “We encourage educators, policymakers and parents to use this information to bring about change and implement integrated systems for guiding the educational development of our children.”
2001 National and State Scores
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