American Indian Students Trail Peers in Preparation for College and Career

American Indian students are less likely than their peers to meet key college readiness benchmarks, even when taking academically rigorous courses in high school, according to a new report released today by ACT and the National Indian Education Association (NIEA).

The report, The Condition of College Readiness 2014: American Indian Students, shows that 55 percent of American Indian students failed to meet any of the four ACT College Readiness Benchmarks, and only one in 10 met all four.  Among all students, 31 percent didn’t meet any of the four ACT Benchmarks, and 26 percent met all four.

Across all four subjects, the percentage of American Indian students meeting each benchmark was lower than the proportion who took “core or more” (recommended core curriculum) courses, compared to those meeting benchmarks among all students who took “core or more” courses. The rates for each subject are the following:

• English: fewer than half of American Indian students who took “core or more” courses met the benchmark, compared to 67 percent for all students
• Reading: 28 percent who took core or more met the benchmark, compared to 47 percent for all students
• Math: 23 percent who took core or more met benchmark, compared to 46 percent for all students
• Science: 22 percent met benchmark, compared to 41 percent for all students

“Helping Native students achieve college and career readiness is vital to their future success,” said Ahniwake Rose, executive director of NIEA. “These findings underscore the need for wider adoption of effective policies and resources to adequately equip these students to reach their full potential.”

The number of American Indian students taking the ACT® test has declined by 13 percent over the last five years, with 14,263 students taking the test in 2014. But the American Indian population is relatively young, with one-third under the age of 18, and 600,000 students attending either regular or tribal schools.

“Nine of 10 American Indian students in K through 12 education attend regular public schools, so getting it right for them is part of our educational challenge in closing these achievement gaps,” said Jim Larimore, ACT chief officer for underserved students. “These students live in every state and type of community, and attend urban, suburban, rural and reservation schools.”

The research-based ACT College Readiness Benchmarks specify the minimum scores students must earn on each of the four subject tests of the ACT—English, math, reading and science—to have about a 75 percent chance of earning a grade of C or higher in a typical credit-bearing first-year college course in the corresponding subject area. ACT research suggests that students who meet the benchmarks are more likely than those who do not to persist in college and earn a degree.

The ACT report uses data from the more than 1.8 million ACT-tested 2014 high school graduates. The American Indian-specific report is available at: www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/CCCR-2014-AmericanIndian.pdf.