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Diving certificate:

• The average Composite ACT score The Class of 2024’s score of 19.4 was slightly lower than the 19.5 scored by their peers who graduated the year before, according to results released by ACT Education Corp.a provider of college admissions assessments.
• Additionally, 57% of 2024 high school graduates met one or more of ACT’s college readiness benchmarks in English, math, reading and science. Freshmen who meet the ACT benchmarks have about a 50% chance of earning a grade of B or better in their respective college courses and a 75% chance of earning a grade of C or better, according to the ACT .
• Many colleges and universities have changed their admissions policies to be test-free or test-free during the pandemic. While many are maintaining these policies, others are reintroducing the requirement, causing high school students to be more strategic when applying to colleges.

Insight into the dive:

ACT said a record 78% of test takers who graduated in 2024 were tested through state and regional programs that offer free school-day testing to students.

““Giving students the opportunity to take tests for free during the school day opens doors to advanced degrees, scholarships and career opportunities for many students who didn’t know college could be an option,” said Janet Godwin, CEO of ACT , in a statement.

In total, About 1.4 million students in the class of 2024 took ACT exams at least once in 10th through 12th grade, which was comparable to the class of 2023.

Starting next spring, ACT said national online tests administered on weekends will be shorter and shorter offer more flexibility for students. Starting with the September 2025 test, all students who test online or on paper on a Saturday will see these new features. Schools and districts will have these options starting in spring 2026.

ACT announced earlier this year that it had partnered with Nexus Capital Management, a private equity firm, to form a company Non-profit company.

As with the ACT, the Class of 2024’s performance on the nonprofit College Board’s SAT—another college admissions test—decreased compared to Class of 2023 graduates. According to a Sept. 24 press release from the College Board, the average overall SAT score was 1,024, compared to 1,028 for the 2023 class.

More than 1.97 million students from the class of 2024 have taken the SAT or PSAT at least once. This is an increase over the 1.91 million test takers in the previous graduating class. Additionally, school-day testing for the SAT reached a record high of 1.35 million students, the College Board said.

Last year, SAT introduced digital PSAT and SAT exams, which the organization said were shorter and easier for test takers.