More Washington students than ever are enrolling in college-level courses and taking college entrance exams, according to results recently released by the College Board and ACT. Almost every reported racial and ethnic group saw increased SAT, AP, PSAT and ACT test-taking rates in 2015.
“I’m proud of our students,” said state Superintendent Randy Dorn. “Our participation rates are up, so that means more students are thinking about life after high school. At the same time, we continue to perform above the national average.”
The following participation rates were provided to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction by the College Board (SAT, AP and PSAT) and ACT:
|
CLASS OF 2015 SAT PARTICIPATION IN WA (public schools) |
||
|
Racial/Ethnic Group |
% Change From Last Year |
% of Total |
|
American Indian |
+9.2 |
1.6 |
|
Asian |
+11.7 |
14.4 |
|
Black |
+26.3 |
6.2 |
|
Mexican American |
+16.4 |
8.0 |
|
Puerto Rican |
+7.3 |
0.3 |
|
Other Hispanic |
+27.6 |
4.2 |
|
White |
+3.7 |
57.1 |
|
Other |
+5.7 |
3.6 |
|
No Response |
+32.8 |
4.6 |
|
CLASS OF 2015 AP PARTICIPATION IN WA (public schools) |
||
|
Racial/Ethnic Group |
% Change From Last Year |
% of Total |
|
American Indian |
-7.6 |
1.0 |
|
Asian |
+4.2 |
17.9 |
|
Black |
+6.6 |
3.6 |
|
Mexican American |
+8.4 |
6.0 |
|
Puerto Rican |
+16.2 |
0.3 |
|
Other Hispanic |
+2.9 |
2.8 |
|
White |
+3.6 |
59.9 |
|
Other |
-7.7 |
3.7 |
|
No Response |
+145.7 |
4.8 |
|
CLASS OF 2016 PSAT PARTICIPATION IN WA (public schools) |
||
|
Racial/Ethnic Group |
% Change From Last Year |
% of Total |
|
American Indian |
+1.7 |
1.6 |
|
Asian |
-3.7 |
13.8 |
|
Black |
+2.1 |
5.8 |
|
Mexican American |
+10.2 |
9.2 |
|
Puerto Rican |
+30.3 |
0.3 |
|
Other Hispanic |
+6.8 |
3.7 |
|
White |
-1.7 |
55.5 |
|
Other |
+4.4 |
4.1 |
|
No Response |
-3.8 |
6.1 |
|
CLASS OF 2015 ACT PARTICIPATION IN WA (all schools) |
||
|
Racial/Ethnic Group |
# Change From Last Year |
% of Total |
|
Black/African American |
+157 |
5 |
|
American Indian/Alaska Native |
+25 |
1 |
|
White |
+553 |
52 |
|
Hispanic/ Latino |
+663 |
15 |
|
Asian |
+360 |
11 |
|
Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander |
+70 |
1 |
|
Two or More Races |
+186 |
7 |
|
Prefer Not to Respond/No Respond |
+263 |
7 |
College entrance exams and some AP exams are legislatively approved alternatives to Washington’s high school exit exams. Students can apply to use qualifying scores to meet the assessment requirement for graduation, if they have first attempted to meet standard on a state exam. Students who transfer into Washington public schools in 11th or 12th grade from out of state or an in-state non-public school setting can apply for a “transfer student waiver” to use one of the alternatives without taking a state exam first.
More information
- College Board (SAT, AP, PSAT)
- National scores
- School-level scores: SAT, AP, PSAT
- District-level scores: SAT, AP, PSAT
- ACT
- National and state scores (contact local school districts for their scores)
- List of ACT scores by state, 1994‒2015
- Using College Admission and AP Test Scores as an alternative means to Certificate of Academic Achievement
