This is the fourth consecutive year of declines in the composite average score, a trend that predates the health crisis. Few students are what the testing provider deems college ready, the ACT’s report also shows.
“As a country, we ignore these related trends at our own peril,” CEO Janet Godwin said in a statement.
In 2017, the average national score on the ACT was 21, though it slid to 20.3 for the high school class of 2021. The average score declined for every racial and ethnic group besides Asian students, whose composite score held unchanged from last year, at 24.9, and American-Indian/Alaska Native students, who saw an increase from 16.7 to 16.9.
