More than half of the high school graduates who took the SAT were not prepared for college courses, the College Board says in a new report. Only 43 percent of test takers met the SAT’s college-readiness benchmark score of 1550, according to the report.
“This number has remained virtually unchanged during the last five years, underscoring a need to dramatically increase the number of students in K–12 who acquire the skills and knowledge that research demonstrates are critical to college readiness,” the College Board says in its 2013 SAT Report on College & Career Readiness.
The College Board says the results are a “call to action” and that it will work with school districts and higher education to improve the results. The College Board says it plans to help increase the number of students taking advanced placement courses and give students information about college earlier during high school. It also said it would keep the SAT “accessible and affordable.”
Improved resulted are needed because students who score 1550 or higher have a better chance of maintaining a higher grade-point average in college and graduating in four years, the report says.
The benchmark was set at 1550 because students who achieve that score have a 65 percent chance of getting a B-minus grade-point average, or higher, during the first year of college, which in turn, increases the likelihood of graduation.
A piece of good news the report cited was that 2013 saw the highest-ever percentage of minorities taking the test. The number of minorities who met the benchmark score increased, the report says.
Read the 2013 SAT Report on College & Career Readiness for more statistics.