College and Career Readiness Benchmarks

Among ACT test takers in 2019, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students were much less likely to meet the ACT college readiness benchmark than Asians, Whites, or their peers of more than one race across all subjects. Less than 10 percent of all American Indian or Alaska Native and Black or African American test takers met the ACT college readiness benchmark across all four subjects.

Among SAT test takers in 2019, about one in five American Indian or Alaska Native and Black or African American students met both SAT college readiness benchmarks. Comparatively, over half of all Asians (75 percent), Whites (57 percent), and individuals of more than one race (51 percent) met both SAT benchmarks. Over half of all American Indian or Alaska Native (58 percent) and Black or African American (53 percent) test takers did not meet any SAT college readiness benchmarks.

Percentage of ACT Test Takers Meeting Respective College Readiness Benchmarks, by Subject and Race and Ethnicity: 2019
Percentage of SAT Test Takers Meeting Respective College Readiness Benchmarks, by Subject and Race and Ethnicity: 2019

Source

ACT U.S. High School Graduating Class Data: 2019
https://www.act.org/content/act/en/research/services-and-resources/data-and-visualization/grad-class-database.html

College Board, SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report: 2019

Notes:
For ACT, college readiness benchmarks indicate a 50 percent chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75 percent chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college courses.

For SAT, college and career readiness benchmarks coincide with a 75 percent chance of a C or better in a first-semester, credit-bearing corresponding college course

SAT data reflect 2019 high school graduates who took the current SAT during high school.