ACT scores: Many grads aren’t ready for college

washington » The latest scores from the ACT college entrance exam suggest many of this year’s high school graduates aren’t ready for college-level course work.

In its annual score report released Wednesday, the testing company said only 38 percent of graduating seniors who took the exam hit the college-prepared benchmark in at least three of the four core subjects tested — reading, English, math and science. That compares with 40 percent last year. The benchmark is designed to measure a strong readiness for college.

The average composite score also de- clined a bit, down from 21 to 20.8 this year. The four tests are scored on a scale of 1 to 36. The composite is the average of the four scores. Many colleges use the composite in admissions.

ACT’s Paul Weeks says the declines were expected, given the growing and changing demographics of the testing population.

Sixty-four percent of the 2016 graduates took the ACT, meaning nearly 2.1 million students, compared with 59 percent the year before. That increases the share of test-takers who aren’t necessarily collegebound, said Weeks, senior vice president for client relations.

By comparison, 1.7 million graduating seniors in 2015 took the SAT, the other major college entrance exam. The College Board expects to release updated 2016 numbers for the SAT in the fall.

Of the ACT-tested high school graduates this year, 61 percent met the English benchmark of 18 points, which indicates a student is likely ready for a college composition course and would earn a grade of C or better.

In reading, 44 percent met the 22-point mark that suggests readiness for a collegelevel social-sciences course. For math, 41 percent met the 22-point threshold that predicts success in an algebra course. And in science, 36 percent reached the 23-point score that predicts success in an entry-level biology course.