Record Number of Hispanic Students Take the ACT^®

College Readiness Levels Remain Steady

A record number of 2008 Hispanic high school graduates took the ACT^®. Their college readiness levels remained unchanged.

The percentage of ACT-tested Hispanics who met or surpassed the College Readiness Benchmark on the ACT Reading Test rose to 35 percent in 2008, up from 34 percent last year. The percentages who met or surpassed the College Readiness Benchmarks in English (49 percent), math (26 percent), and science (13 percent) remained unchanged compared to last year. They are all higher than they were three years ago—English, 48 percent; math, 25 percent; reading, 33 percent; science, 12 percent.

Although more Hispanic students are college-ready now than were three years ago, most are still not college-ready in all four subject areas. Only 10 percent of 2008 Hispanic graduates met all four of ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks.

This year, nearly 115,000 Hispanic graduates took the ACT, a 23 percent increase from 2007. Since 2004, the number of Hispanic graduates taking the ACT has increased by 46 percent. Overall, Hispanic students now represent 8 percent of ACT test-takers nationally, up from 7 percent in 2007.

Since 2004, the number of Mexican American/Chicano test-takers has increased by 66 percent, and the number of Puerto Rican/Cuban/other Hispanic test-takers by 35 percent.

Hispanic graduates in the class of 2008 earned an average ACT Composite score of 18.7, unchanged from 2007. Puerto Rican/Cuban/other Hispanic students earned an average ACT Composite score of 19.1, up from 18.9 in 2007. Mexican American/Chicano students earned an average ACT Composite score of 18.4, down from 18.5 in 2007. The national average ACT Composite score for all students in the 2008 class was 21.1.

The average scores for Hispanic students on both the ACT Reading Test (18.9) and the ACT English Test (17.7) increased by one-tenth of a point from last year. The average score on the ACT Science Test (18.7) dropped by one-tenth of a point; the average score on the ACT Math Test remained unchanged (19.0).

Hispanic test-takers who took ACT’s recommended core college preparatory curriculum—four years of English and three years each of math, science, and social studies—were significantly more likely to meet the benchmark scores and be college-ready than those who did not.

For example, 57 percent of Hispanic graduates who reported taking the core curriculum met or surpassed ACT's College Readiness Benchmark in English, compared to 38 percent of students who took less than core. Twice as many Hispanic students who took the core curriculum met or surpassed ACT's College Readiness Benchmark in math (33 percent) as those who took less than core (16 percent).

ACT-tested Hispanic students who took the core curriculum or more also earned significantly higher average scores (19.6) than did those who took less than the recommended core curriculum (17.4). Just 60 percent of Hispanic ACT-tested graduates in the class of 2008 reported taking the recommended core curriculum, while 32 percent reported taking less.

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