| HIGHER EDUCATION
PREPARING ALL STUDENTS FOR SUCCESS: The ACT view By Jon L. Erickson
The diversity of the 1.8 million high school graduates who took the ACT® college readiness assessment reached an all-time high in 2013. Their number and nature reflect our evolving nation and represent a multiyear trend for the ACT.
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ver the past four years, the number of African American and Asian students taking the ACT® has increased by 20 percent, and the number of Hispanic students taking the ACT has nearly doubled. This is consistent with projections from the National Center for Educational Statistics, which from 2009 to 2020 expects white college and university enrollment to increase by 1 percent, African American and Asian enrollments to expand by 25 percent each, and Hispanic enrollment to surge by 46 percent.
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That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that according to ACT’s 2013 Condition of College and Career Readiness report, only about onefourth of ACT-tested high school graduates met all four of the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks. A benchmark is an English, Mathematics, Reading, or Science score representing the achievement necessary for students to have a 50 percent chance of obtaining a B or higher, or about a 75 percent chance of receiving a C or higher, in a corresponding creditbearing first-year college course. Slightly more than 40 percent of Asian students
PROFILES IN DIVERSITY JOURNAL
met all four benchmarks compared to 13 percent of Hispanic students and 5 percent of African American students. Fewer than half of students from all backgrounds met all four benchmarks. For students of any race or ethnicity who lack the fi-
November/December 2013
nancial or family resources to overcome educational obstacles, the challenges can be particularly fierce. For example, when students require remedial education, it often takes more time to graduate, which means more money for tuition (and books,