Georgia Students Scoring Higher on College Entrance Exams
Georgia students are making gains on college entrance exams. Georgia’s class of 2014 scored higher than many others in the South on the ACT.
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Georgia’s composite ACT score is 20.8. That’s slightly lower than the national average of 21, out of a possible 36. Officials would like Georgia’s number to be higher, but Department of Education spokesperson Matt Cardoza says it’s progress.
“We have more students taking it,” he says. “The overall score went up and we’re outperforming many of our southeastern states. That’s good news for our students who are competing for getting into colleges of their choice. So, overall the trend was really good.”
That was true, even in math. Georgia’s math scores have lagged behind other subjects on state-issued tests. But that wasn’t the case on the ACT.
“In math, they closed the gap,” says Jeff Gagne, the director of education policies at the Southern Regional Education Board. “They went from 20.3 in ’13 to 20.5 in ’14. The nation stayed flat at 20.9. So, they closed the gap with the nation. So, that’s a great story.”
Usually, when more students take an exam, scores drop. Cardoza and Gagne said the fact that Georgia’s ACT scores are ticking up is a good sign.
Georgia ranks 30th in ACT scores, up from 37th in 2011.
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