Just over 20 percent of SC's 2018 Graduating Class "college-ready" on ACT

Columbia – Today, the results of The ACT® assessment test for the 2018 Graduating Class were released.  South Carolina was one of 19 states who had at least 98 percent participation in 2018. Unfortunately, as in the nation, fewer South Carolina students in 2018 were academically ready for college coursework. In the United States, the percentage of students meeting at least three out of four of the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks in reading, English, science and mathematics declined from 39% in 2017 to 38% in 2018. In South Carolina, the percentage declined from 25% in 2017 to 22% in 2018.

The ACT College and Career Readiness Benchmark score is the minimum score needed on an ACT subject-area test to indicate a 50% chance that the student will obtain a B or higher or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college course.

Education Oversight Committee (EOC) Chairman Neil Robinson notes that over the past three years there has not been a consistent trend in ACT assessment results for South Carolina. Last year the average Composite ACT score was up 0.2 points while this year, it declined 0.4 points. “We need to see steady, continuous improvements.”

Robinson maintains it is clear that students need a more rigorous high school curriculum to be prepared for college. South Carolina’s growing economy requires that 60 percent of our working-aged adults will need a college degree or credential by 2025. Currently, only 42 percent have such qualifications.

“These ACT scores emphasize what our state assessments released earlier this fall document: our state has to improve the teaching and learning of reading and mathematics,” stated Robinson. Additionally, students need to be encouraged to take the ACT multiple times if they aspire to attend a two or four-year college or university in our state. Educators, families, policymakers – all of us – need to have higher expectations of students, and we need to prevent barriers which unintentionally keep students from persisting and achieving.”

The 2018 seniors in South Carolina took the ACT as juniors, as required by state law, and therefore, South Carolina had a 100 percent participation rate. 2018 will mark the last time that all juniors in South Carolina are required to take the ACT. The General Assembly amended the law in 2017 to allow juniors to take either the ACT or SAT beginning in school year 2017-18.

Additional results are summarized below with national and state comparisons noted.

• Like the nation, South Carolina has a significant proportion of our students aspiring to attend college. Approximately 76% of all ACT-tested seniors in America aspired to postsecondary education. In South Carolina, 73% of all seniors aspired to postsecondary education in 2018.
• Of the 19 states that assessed at least 98 percent of the students, South Carolina ranked 18th. Only the state of Nevada had a lower ACT composite score in 2018. The Southeastern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee, which also assessed all students in 2018, had higher composite scores than did South Carolina.  The state that had the largest gain in its ACT composite score in 2018 was Kentucky.  Of the states that tested all seniors in 2017 and in 2018, South Carolina and Missouri had the largest decline of 0.4 points.

As he did in 2017, Robinson pointed out the tremendous opportunity we have, as the majority of students aspire to post-secondary education. However, Robinson pointed to some missed opportunities that can prevent students from achieving at higher levels.  

“Almost three-fourths of SC students want to attend college but unfortunately many do not enroll or are not academically prepared,” stated Robinson.

ACT reports that 77 percent of 2017 high school graduates in SC aspired to attend college but only 57 percent enrolled. And, 22 percent of 2018 seniors in SC did not report taking the core courses needed to be prepared for the ACT; students need four or more years of English and three or more years each of math, social studies and natural science.

The practice of taking a college admissions test multiple times has grown over time, as “repeat-testers” often improve their scores. Nationally, 44% of 2018 ACT-tested graduates took the ACT more than once. In South Carolina, that number was only 26.4%. South Carolina students who took the ACT two or more times had an average composite score of 21.1 compared to an average of 17.2 for 2018 graduates (73.6%) who took the ACT only once.

 

South Carolina, Results of The ACT Plus Writing®

	2018 (Nation)	2017 (Nation)	2016 (Nation)
Composite Score	18.3 (20.8)	18.7 (21.0)	18.5 (20.8)
% Students Meeting at least 3 out of 4 benchmarks	22% (38%)	25% (39%)	23% (38%)
% Students Not Meeting Any Benchmark	53% (35%)	50% (33%)	51% (34%)

 

 

Percent of ACT-Tested High School Graduates in South Carolina

Meeting Three or More Benchmarks by Ethnicity by Year

Ethnicity	2018	2017	2016
Black/African American	5%	6%	5%
Hispanic/Latino	16%	17%	16%
American Indian/ Alaska Native	9%	8%	9%
Native Hawaiian / Other / Pacific Islander	17%	21%	12%
Asian	45%	48%	47%
White	33%	36%	34%

 

 

2017 and 2018 Results of The ACT Plus Writing®

South Carolina High School Graduates Compared to Nation

College Course	ACT Subject Area Test	ACT College Ready Benchmark	SC Average Scale Score 2018 (2017)	% SC Students Meeting Benchmarks 2018 (2017)	% Students Meeting Benchmarks in US 2018
English Composition	English	18	17.3 (17.5)	42% (44%)	60%
College Algebra	Mathematics	22	18.2 (18.6)	24% (25%)	40%
Social Sciences	Reading	22	18.6 (19.1)	30% (33%)	46%
Biology	Science	23	18.5 (18.9)	20% (23%)	36%
	Overall Composite Score	N/A	18.3 (18.7)	All Four 14% (15%)	27%

 

 

ACT Composite Scores for States that tested 98% or more Seniors in:

2018, 2017 and in 2016

State	2018	2017	2016
Minnesota	21.3	21.5	21.1
Wisconsin	20.5	20.5	20.5
Utah	20.4	20.3	20.2
North Dakota	20.3
Ohio	20.3
Kentucky	20.2	20.0	20.0
Nebraska	20.1
Missouri	20.0	20.4	20.2
Montana	20.0	20.3	20.3
Wyoming	20.0	20.2	20.0
Tennessee	19.6	19.8	19.9
Arkansas	19.4	19.4
Oklahoma	19.3	19.4
Louisiana	19.2	19.4	19.5
Alabama	19.1	19.2	19.1
North Carolina	19.1	19.1	19.1
Mississippi	18.6	18.6	18.4
South Carolina	18.3	18.7	18.5
Nevada	17.7	17.8	17.7

 Missing data imply that the state had less than a 98% participation rate in the year.

 

The SC Education Oversight Committee is an independent, non-partisan group made up of 18 educators, business persons, and elected leaders. Created in 1998, the committee is dedicated to reporting facts, measuring change, and promoting progress within South Carolina’s education system.

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