The College Board has released its annual report on the scores of graduating high school seniors in the Class of 2025 on the SAT college entrance examination. Slightly more than 250,000 African Americans in the Class of 2025 took the test. African Americans made up 12.5 percent of the more than 2 million test takers in the Class of 2025.
Nine years ago, The College Board “redesigned” the SAT and therefore it claims that current scores cannot be compared to those from the past. Scores on the redesigned test are significantly higher than those from previous years.
Each of the two sections of the SAT is scored on a scale of 200 to 800 points. This year, African Americans had a mean score of 464 on the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing test. This was 86 points lower than the mean score for Whites. On the Mathematics Section, African Americans scored an average of 440. This was 87 points lower than the mean score for Whites. Thus, on the combined test, Blacks had a mean score of 904 and Whites had a mean score of 1077. Although the redesigned SAT shows higher overall scores, the racial gap remains about the same. The mean score of Asian Americans was 1229.
The results showed that only 17 percent of African American test takers met the college and career readiness benchmark for both reading and mathematics. The benchmark score is associated with a 75 percent chance of earning at least a C in a first-semester, credit-bearing, college-level course.
Some 47 percent of Whites met the readiness benchmarks in both reading and mathematics. Some 55 percent of all Black test takers did not meet the minimum benchmark in either reading or mathematics. For Whites, the figure was 23 percent.
Whites were seven times as likely as Blacks to score in the 1400-1600 range, scores typically required for admission to the nation’s most selective colleges and universities.
Due to the 2023 Supreme Court ruling banning the consideration of race in college admission decisions, the huge racial gap in scores on the SAT test will undoubtedly contribute to smaller numbers of Black students at the nation’s most selective colleges and universities. Fearing federal litigation, selective colleges and universities will in most cases give strong preferences to students who score at the highest level on the SAT.
So what! That’s the reason for HBCUs. Friends, they never have or will want us at “their” schools.
Hey Johnson,
The facts remain, the majority of native born Black American faculty members and upper echelon administrators at our beloved HBCUs send their own children to HWCUs. Regarding the article, since Black Americans were legally denied education for long periods of time and after years of literally fighting (i.e., physically and in the courts) these insecure “White Americans” along with the entire society is centered “on them, Black Americans SAT shouldn’t even be that close in a current context. The reality is, White America is so afraid that if the playing field was actually equal, they would be in last place in their own game they created. Let’s not forget that the “White Asians” have been outperforming these insecure White Americans for years.
Why are we still focused on SAT and ACT scores?? These factors don’t contribute to African American or minority success in majority white or black institutions. These tests have always been based on area codes vs apritude