Press Releases

SAT® Scores Hold Steady for College-Bound Seniors

Favorable gains by Mexican American, Other Hispanic, and American Indian Students
Record Number of SAT Takers for 14th Straight Year

08/31/04

Washington, D.C. -- The College Board announced today that average SAT® verbal scores this year rose 1 point to 508, building on last years 3-point verbal score gain. College Board President Gaston Caperton said that following years of flat verbal scores, he hopes the recent score gains are the beginning of an upward trend.

Average math scores fell 1 point from last year to 518, though the overall math trend remained positive. Average math scores are up 14 points compared to 10 years ago.

Scores among female SAT takers rose 1 point on the verbal section, to 504 this year, while their math scores dropped 2 points to 501. Scores for male SAT takers remained unchanged at 512 for verbal and 537 for math.

The number of SAT takers among the high school class of 2004 rose to an all-time high of 1,419,007. This marks the fourteenth year in a row that the total number of exam-takers has risen.

Promising Gains Among Mexican American, Other Hispanic, and American Indian Students

Scores rose for the two fastest-growing groups of SAT takers: Mexican American and Other Hispanic* students. Compared to last year, verbal scores for Mexican American students rose 3 points and their math scores were up 1 point, while Other Hispanic students gained 4 points on verbal and 1 point on math.

Scores also increased for American Indians. Their verbal scores rose 3 points and their math scores jumped 6 points from last year.

"Among the most promising findings this year are the SAT math and verbal score gains among Mexican American, Other Hispanic, and American Indian students," Caperton said. "During this election year, both presidential candidates have made it clear that setting high academic standards and fostering educational success for all students are crucial to our nation. Improved performance on the SAT is one indication that these students are focusing on the skills they need to succeed in college. And the majority of Mexican American and Other Hispanic SAT takers are the first in their families to go to college."

Sixty-nine percent of Mexican American, 55 percent of Other Hispanic, and 46 percent of American Indian SAT takers are first-generation college students. In addition, English was not the first language learned by many Mexican American and Other Hispanic SAT takers.

Texas and California were two of the states with increased SAT participation rates and test scores among Mexican American and Other Hispanic students.

Larry R. Faulkner, president of the University of Texas at Austin, said, "This year's SAT report shows both a sharp increase in test-takers and a significant rise in the average SAT scores among Hispanic students from Texas. This exciting news points to heightened educational aspirations in the Hispanic community and better performance in the public schools serving them. In keeping with these results, the 2004 freshman class at UT has the best overall academic qualifications in the University's history and also includes the largest percentage of Hispanic students ever."

Steven B. Sample, president of the University of Southern California, said, "This recent increase in Latino student SAT scores is a positive sign that colleges and universities may see an increase in the number of students from Latino backgrounds who pursue postsecondary education. USC, along with the College Board and many other organizations, is engaged in efforts to encourage the aspirations of Latino students. At USC we do this through a number of programs that reach out to Latino K-12 students and their families both in neighborhoods around our two campuses and across the nation."

A Broader 10-Year View

A broader 10-year view of SAT scores reveals verbal and math score increases among many groups of SAT takers. The largest 10-year verbal score gains were among Asian American students, whose scores were up 18 points, and Puerto Ricans, whose scores rose 13 points. The largest 10-year math score advances were among Asian Americans (up 24 points) and American Indians (up 18 points).

Despite these promising trends, the achievement gap between white students and students from other racial and ethnic groups persists. The gap in course-taking patterns persists as well. For example, 13 percent of African American SAT takers and 18 percent of both Mexican American and Other Hispanic SAT takers took calculus during high school compared to 27 percent of white and 43 percent of Asian American students.

New SAT Will Debut in March 2005

This year's high school juniors, students in the class of 2006, will begin to take a new SAT in March 2005. The new test will include a writing section with a student-written essay, higher-level math, and more reading passages.

"The new SAT will continue to assess how students apply what they have learned in school," said Caperton. "With the addition of the writing section, it will be even more valuable in assessing the academic skills students need to succeed in college and in today's workforce."

A broad cross section of the nation's leading colleges has established that scores from a standardized writing test will be a requirement for admissions. Nearly 60 percent of public flagship colleges have committed to requiring writing. In addition, about 64 percent of colleges in the major athletic conferences and almost all Big Ten, PAC-10, and Atlantic Coast Athletic Conferences will require writing. Average scores for the first class of students to take the new SAT will be reported in August 2006.

For more information on the new SAT, visit New SAT Press Area.

A Snapshot of SAT Takers

758,737 (53 percent) of SAT takers are female and 660,270 (47 percent) are male.

Thirty-seven percent of SAT takers in the class of 2004 were minorities. The number of Mexican American SAT takers increased by 63 percent between 1994 and 2004. SAT takers in the Other Hispanic category increased by 64 percent during the same period.

Thirty-eight percent of SAT takers are first-generation college students, including 69 percent of Mexican American students and 55 percent of Other Hispanic students.

The amount and quality of academic preparation for college varies by racial/ethnic group, parental education, and family income. Precalculus, for example, was taken by:

• 60 percent of Asian American students versus 35 percent of Puerto Ricans and 31 percent of African Americans;
• 53 percent of students whose parents graduated from college versus 36 percent of those whose parents did not have high school diplomas; and
• 51 percent of students with family incomes of $50,000 and above versus 39 percent of those with lower incomes.

SAT Growth

The SAT Program continues to grow. For example, in Florida alone, the number of SAT takers increased by nearly 4,000, or 5 percent, between 2003 and 2004.

Six states saw the percent of SAT takers grow 5 percent or more between 2003 and 2004:

Arizona
Florida
Idaho
Nevada
New Mexico
North Dakota

Seven states saw growth of 1,000 SAT takers or more between 2003 and 2004:

Florida
Georgia
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Texas

* Those identifying themselves as Latin American, South American, Central American, or Other Hispanic or Latino.

The information presented in this press release is based on the number of students who responded to each corresponding question on the SAT Questionnaire, an optional questionnaire that most students complete when they register for the SAT. The number of students responding and the number not responding to each question are reported in the College-Bound Seniors national report, available at www.collegeboard.com/cbsrs04.