LOS ANGELES — The organization behind the ACT college entrance exam has concluded that only one-fourth of the nation’s graduating high school seniors are ready for college.
In its annual report, “The Condition of College and Career Readiness,” ACT explains that students need to reach a certain score in each of the four areas covered by the test — science, math, reading and English — to be considered likely to be successful in college.
Reaching that score suggests that the student has a 50 percent chance of earning a grade B or higher, or a 75 percent chance of earning a C or higher in a typical college course.
More than 1.6 million graduating seniors took the ACT test this year, 49 percent of the U.S. graduating class. Of the total number of students who took the test, 25 percent met or surpassed all four of the ACT college readiness benchmarks, the report said.
About 28 percent of graduating high school seniors did not meet the benchmark in any of the four subjects. An additional 15 percent met the benchmark in only one subject.
Students from Connecticut and Massachusetts did especially well on the test, while students from Mississippi and Tennessee were at the bottom of the pack.
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