Dive Brief:
- Based on the ACT scores of high school students from the class of 2014, only 39% have a strong likelihood of success in their first year of college, according to the testing company.
- The scores, and chances of success, were higher for students who had taken a college preparatory core curriculum — 50% met the ACT benchmark math score for college success, compared to 27% for students who didn’t take the core coursework.
- The company reports that 57% of the 2014 high school graduating class took the ACT, up 18% since 2010.
Dive Insight:
The most popular major that the class of 2014's ACT test-takers planned to choose in college was nursing, followed by medicine/pre-med, business and management, mechanical engineering, and biology. Eighty-six percent of the test-takers aspired to post-secondary education, compared to 87% last year and the 69% who ended up enrolling.
