ACT Scores Dropping

Emma Wilkinson

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As a result of the pandemic, ACT scores are the lowest they have been in over thirty years. The ACT stands for American College Testing and is a nonprofit organization. It’s a standardized test used in the United States to help colleges and universities make admissions decisions. In Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee, and Wyoming, everyone is required to take the test. These standardized tests are alleged to be unfair to low-income students who cannot afford test preparation or advanced courses to help them perform better. Many high school students are failing to meet any of the ACT subject benchmarks. According to NPR, "The class of 2022's average ACT composite score was 19.8 out of 36, marking the first time since 1991 that the average score was below 20." This illustrates a decline in students' showing readiness for college-level courses. Students are responding to the ACT, stating that it only helped them with achieving financial aid and had no correlation to how well they performed in college. Many students who have scored poorly on the ACT have done very well in college and even managed to be at the top of their class. According to the article, “ACT test scores dropped to their lowest in 30 years in a pandemic slide.” Rose Babington, senior director for state partnerships for the ACT, defended that the test is a crucial measure of college readiness, saying, “Now more than ever, the last few years have shown us the importance of having high-quality data to help inform how we support students.” Although this test has become optional at many institutions, students still take it in hopes that it will help them be accepted to colleges and help them receive scholarships.