College-Bound Students’ Academic Skills Inconsistent With Their Career Plans

Students who attain these benchmarks are more likely than others to be ready for college biology and algebra courses, respectively, and have a high probability of completing these courses with a grade of C or higher.

Despite this lack of readiness, the top planned college major among 2003 graduating seniors is health sciences, which is filled with careers requiring strong science and math skills. These careers include medicine, nursing, dentistry, optometry and pharmacy. Health sciences is named as a planned college major by nearly two out of every ten students.

Other college majors in the top ten—including business, social sciences, engineering, biological and physical sciences and computer science—also usually require students to take advanced math and/or science course work in college.

“This disconnect between students’ career goals and their academic preparation demonstrates the importance of educational planning and assessment,” said Richard L. Ferguson, ACT’s chief executive officer. “Young people need help early on to choose courses that will help them reach their goals for college and beyond. This is particularly true in science and math.”

To prepare well for college, high school students interested in pursuing science- and math-related careers should take at least three years of science, including physics, and four years of math, starting with algebra, according to Ferguson. Few students are preparing in this way. Fewer than half (45 percent) of all ACT-tested students in the class of 2003 took three or more years of science, including physics, and even fewer (39 percent) took four or more years of math.

“America’s future well-being is tied to advances in medicine and health sciences,” said Ferguson. “Similarly, the health of the U.S. economy is dependent upon innovation in science and technology. If students who wish to pursue these careers aren’t prepared to succeed in college, the future may be in jeopardy.”

The ACT Assessment is a curriculum-based achievement test made up of four separate exams in English, reading, mathematics, and science. It is the only national college entrance exam to include a science test. An optional writing test will be added to the exam in the 2004–2005 school year.

The ACT is scored on a scale of 1 to 36, with 36 being the highest possible score. The test is administered in all fifty states and is the predominant college entrance exam in twenty-five states.