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The national average ACT composite score dropped to 19.5 out of a maximum score of 36 for the Class of 2023, according to data released by ACT, the nonprofit organization that administers the college readiness exam.
Among the key findings from this year’s data:
- Roughly 1.4 million high school seniors took the ACT test, an increase over the 2022 graduating class.
- The average Composite score declined by 0.3 points, from 19.8 in 2022 to 19.5 in 2023.
- Between 2022 and 2023, average English scores declined 0.4 points (from 19.0 to 18.6), average mathematics scores declined 0.3 points (from 19.3 to 19.0), average reading scores declined 0.3 points (from 20.4 to 20.1), and average science scores declined 0.3 points (from 19.9 to 19.6).
- The percentage of students meeting all four benchmarks dropped 1.3 percentage points, from 22.1 percent of students in 2022 to 20.8 percent of students in 2023, whereas the percentage of students meeting no benchmarks increased by 1.7 percentage points, from 41.6 percent in 2022 to 43.3 percent in 2023.
- Participation in the ACT State and District Testing program continued to grow in the 2022-2023 academic year.
- For the 2023 graduating class, 60 percent of students tested at least once through the program. The ACT State and District Testing program provides students the opportunity to earn college-reportable ACT scores by taking the test in their own classrooms during regular school hours.
You can read more findings from the report here.