Too many of America’s high school graduates are not prepared for college. And students who are not prepared for college are not prepared for the future—especially for the lifelong learning required for high-performance, high-wage jobs. Addressing this readiness crisis has become a national priority, as evidenced most recently by the passage of the No Child Left Behind legislation.

Today, 75 percent of high school graduates enroll in college within two years of graduation. Yet fewer than 62 percent of the spring 2002 high school graduates who took the ACT Assessment^® took a core college preparatory curriculum in high school. And, even among those who reported taking a core curriculum, many were not prepared to succeed in college freshman classes. In fact, approximately 50 percent of today’s college freshmen take at least one remedial course.

We must do a better job of preparing all students for all of their opportunities. High schools must teach rigorous college prep courses that are aligned with both state learning standards and college standards. If three-quarters of our children are going to college, we must prepare all of them to the college readiness standard.

Not all will go to college, but every student should be prepared for it. No student’s options should be restricted because of lack of readiness. ACT’s EPAS/Educational Planning and Assessment System can help us prepare them all.