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Information Brief 2014-17
ACT Research & Policy
April 2014
ACT Composite Test Scores by Student Background
and School Location
Richard Buddin
ACT Composite Scores by First-Generation College and Low-Income Status for High School Locations
22.1
22.7
21.4
21.1
17.9
19.0
18.3
18.3
18.2
19.1
18.7
18.5
16.5
17.3
17.0
16.9
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Urban
Suburban
Town
Rural
ACT Composite Score
First generation, low income
Not first generation, low income
First generation, not low income
Not first generation, not low income
Note: Data come from 587,008 high school graduates in 2013 in at least one of eleven states that had ACT testing for all students. Families with annual incomes
of less than $36,000 are defined as low income. Students whose parents or guardians have no postsecondary education are defined as first-generation students.
Low-income, first-generation students have lower Composite scores
on the ACT
®
college readiness assessment than students from
middle- or high-income families with a parent or guardian who has
at least some postsecondary education. Family income and parental
education may affect student resources available in the home as well
as motivation and support for academic endeavors.
Low-income, first-generation students have lower Composite scores
in each type of high school, but they fare better in suburban schools
than in urban schools (17.3 versus 16.5, respectively). First-generation
students from middle- and high-income families have lower scores
than low-income students with a parent or guardian who has some
postsecondary education, suggesting that parental education trumps
income status for these student groups.
Middle- and high-income students whose parents or guardians have
some postsecondary experience have the highest test scores. These
students earned scores 3 to 4 points higher than the best of the other
groups in all types of schools.
Students from each background group fare better in suburban
schools than in other schools. Meanwhile, urban students have lowest
scores for all background groups.
Students from all parental
education and family
income groups fared best in
suburban schools compared
with schools in other
locations.
