| States Ranked by Average Composite SAT Scores Relative to U.S. Average, 2004 |
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| States Ranked by Average Composite ACT Scores Relative to U.S. Average, 2004 |
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The educated analyst exercises caution in comparing state rankings on college admissions tests. Millions take either or both the SAT and ACT voluntarily each year. Because of differences in college admissions requirements, students' college preferences, student demographics, and the like, student participation and average scores vary dramatically across the states and the tests. However, while few states clearly outperform the rest on both the SAT and ACT (only Wisconsin and Minnesota enjoy top ten rankings on both), some like Texas consistently underperform. Texas ranks in the bottom ten on both tests along with Washington DC, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. |
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Source: College Board; ACT. (full source) |
Full Source: Data on SAT scores and participation rates is from "Table 3:
Mean SAT I Verbal and Math Scores by State, with Changes for Select
Years," The College Board, 2004. Available at
http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/
yr2004/table_3_mean_verbal_math_by_state.pdf, accessed 19 July 2005.
Data on ACT scores and participation rates is available at
http://www.act.org/news/data.html, accessed 19 July 2005.