SAT & ACT Equality
Even as a growing number of colleges and universities in the U.S. have dropped standardized test requirements for admission, many students still take the SAT and ACT, both of which aim to gauge college readiness. About 1.7 million students from the class of 2022 took the SAT – a tally that ticked up to about 1.9 million for the class of 2023 – while about 1.35 million in the class of 2022 took the ACT.
Nationwide, the average composite score for SAT and ACT test-takers combined was 20.97 between 2017 and 2020, with SAT scores converted to the ACT scale per College Board and ACT guidance. The ACT scoring scale ranges from a low of 1 to a high of 36.
But exam performance can vary by race and ethnicity. Between 2017 and 2020, for example, the average score for Asian test-takers, at more than 25 points, was notably higher than the respective scores of Black and American Indian and Alaska Native students, with both groups seeing average composite scores of approximately 17.3.
Breaking down the data further shows how gaps between racial and ethnic groups persist and vary at the state level. As part of the Racial Equality in America project, U.S. News compared composite SAT and ACT test scores of racial and ethnic groups in a state to the state’s average score among its overall population, measuring the average disparity between the two categories. States were ranked based on the size of their disparity – reflected as an average absolute point difference in test scores – with higher values resulting in a worse ranking for racial equality in test scores.
In New Jersey, for instance, the overall average test score was about 22.4 – among the highest of all states – but gaps between the state average and the average scores of Black students (18.1) and of Asian students (26.7) indicate a relatively high level of disparity. Meanwhile, Virginia had the second-highest average test score overall at 23.0, but smaller gaps on average existed between groups and the state mark, amounting to a lower level of disparity.
These are the 10 best states for racial equality in SAT and ACT test scores as assessed by U.S. News. Learn more about the Racial Equality in America project in our methodology.
