Student ACT scores are at a 30-year low, with some universities looking to drop admission testing requirements entirely.
“More than four in 10 seniors meet none of the college readiness benchmarks; 70% of seniors fall short of college readiness benchmark for mathematics,” according to the ACT website.
“This is the sixth consecutive year of declines in average scores, with average scores declining in every academic subject,” ACT CEO Janet Godwin said.
“We are also continuing to see a rise in the number of seniors leaving high school without meeting any of the college readiness benchmarks, even as student GPAs continue to rise and students report that they feel prepared to be successful in college. The hard truth is that we are not doing enough to ensure that graduates are truly ready for postsecondary success in college and career. These systemic problems require sustained action and support at the policy level. This is not up to teachers and principals alone – it is a shared national priority and imperative.”
Between 2022 and 2023, the average math score dropped 0.3 points, English 0.4 points, reading 0.3 points, and science 0.3 points.
Blaze Media reported that several colleges and universities dropped the testing standards.
In the 2021-2022 application period, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, New York University, Princeton University, Stanford University, and Yale University each dropped the testing requirement.
Most recently, the State University of New York announced it was ending standardized testing requirements for admissions, following Columbia University’s March declaration that it was permanently ending the SAT and ACT testing standards.
