American students' ACT scores lowest in 30 years

In the US, American students' ACT scores averaged 19.5/36, declining for the sixth consecutive year and reaching their lowest level in 30 years, amid the abandonment of the test by many universities in their admissions process.

Statistics released last month by American College Testing (ACT), the test organizer, show that the average score for this year's test-taker has decreased by 0.3 points compared to last year, reaching 19.5/36. This is also the lowest score since 1991.

Along with the SAT, the ACT is a widely used standardized test for college and university admissions in the US for the past few decades. It consists of four subjects: English, Math, Reading Comprehension, and Science . Each section is graded on a 36-point scale. The highest scores in each subject are added together, averaged, and rounded to arrive at the candidate's ACT score.

On a subject-by-subject basis, average scores in Math, Reading, and Science all decreased by 0.3-0.4 points compared to last year, reaching 18.6, 19, 20.1, and 19.6 respectively. This marks the sixth consecutive year that average ACT scores for American students have declined, both overall and in individual subjects.

Compared to the benchmark scores set by the ACT, only the English test had a higher average score. Overall, only 20.8% of students achieved the benchmark score for all four tests (down 1.3% from last year); while the number of students scoring below the benchmark was 43.3%, an increase of 1.7%.

Janet Godwin, CEO of ACT, said that the number of 12th-grade students scoring below par on the ACT is increasing, even as the average grade point average (GPA) of American students tends to rise.

ACT test	Cut-off score	Average score 2023	Difference
English	18	18.6	+0.6
Mathematics	22	19	-3
Reading comprehension	22	20.1	-1.9
Science	23	19.6	-3.4

The average ACT score of students has decreased as many American universities have dropped the requirement for standardized tests in their applications. The University of California system, the largest university system in the US, has been using SAT and ACT scores since 2021. In March 2023, Columbia University became the first Ivy League school to stop using SAT or ACT scores in its admissions process.

According to the Center for Fairness and Transparency in US testing, more than 1,900 universities will not require applicants to submit standardized test scores for the fall 2024 admissions cycle.

That's why, even though 1.39 million people took the ACT this year, an increase of 40,000 compared to last year, the head of the ACT organization believes the number will be difficult to recover to pre-pandemic levels (1.9-2 million).

Huy Quan ( Based on AP, ACT, New York Post, Daily Mail)

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