School-Day ACT Testing Opens Doors for More High School Graduates
Each year, ACT releases its annual snapshot of the ACT-tested graduating class. A record-high 78% of ACT exam takers who graduated in 2024 tested through State and District programs that provide school-day testing at no cost to students.
Every student deserves to understand their readiness for life after high school. ACT has partnerships with state departments of education and local school districts that have helped increase the number of students who participate in school-day testing. These programs help remove financial and access barriers and help students understand their potential for success after high school – whether in college or the workforce.
Use the data visualization tool and resources below to examine students’ college and career readiness relative to the ACT College Readiness Standards and Benchmarks.
U.S. High School Class of 2024 Graduating Class Data
ACT’s annual graduating class data release is aimed at helping educators and district and state leaders make informed decisions to better serve students and families. The reliable historical data, along with ACT’s holistic approach, offers essential context in planning for future student cohorts. This year’s graduating class data reflects all 2024 U.S. graduates who took the ACT test at least once in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade. The data represents the most recent test score for each student.
Students’ ACT test scores have remained consistent over time in predicting postsecondary outcomes, including first-year retention and graduation rates. Read the 2024 Graduating Class Executive Summary.
Key Findings From This Year’s Data
- Roughly 1.4 million high school seniors took the ACT test, comparable to last year’s total.
- The national average ACT Composite score for the high school class of 2024 — students who were freshmen during the first full year of COVID-19 learning disruptions — was 19.4, compared to the 19.5 average for the class of 2023.
- Among the 35% of graduates who tested multiple times, students improved their ACT Superscore by an average of 2.4 points, compared to their first test.
- Thirty percent of 2024 high school graduates met three or four of ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks in English, math, reading, and science, while 57% met one or more benchmark. ACT data from prior graduating classes shows that 84% of students who have met all four benchmarks graduate with postsecondary degrees within six years.
- Participation in the ACT State and District Testing program continued to grow in the 2023-2024 academic year. For the 2024 graduating class, 78% of students tested at least once through the program. The ACT State and District Testing program provides students the opportunity to earn college-reportable ACT scores by taking the test in their own building during regular school hours.
View the Data
The visualization tool below contains data for ACT-tested high school graduates from 2015 through 2024 — nearly 17 million students. The tool allows users to view measures of the college readiness of ACT-tested students summarized by state and graduating class. Regional and national summaries for each measure of college readiness are also provided for additional context.
The interactive tool contains multiple views for exploring the data, using the tabs at the top. The ‘Scores and Benchmarks’ tab provides the mean and standard deviation for each ACT test score, the distribution of students across score ranges that align with the ACT College Readiness Standards, and the share of students meeting the respective ACT College Readiness Benchmark. The ‘Score Distributions’ tab provides the number and share of students scoring at each point on the score scale for each ACT test score. The ‘Group Mean Scores,’ ‘Group Score Ranges,’ and ‘Group Benchmarks’ tabs provide the same summary information found in the ‘Scores and Benchmarks’ tab by various student characteristics. Select a state, graduating class year, ACT test score and student characteristic (if applicable) to get started.
Interpretation of these summary measures of the college readiness of ACT-tested graduates by geographic entity and by graduation year will differ by the number, share, and composition of high school graduates taking the ACT. To assist users with interpretation, the tool also contains comparative information on the number, share, and characteristics of ACT-tested high school graduates over time. See the 'Number Tested,' 'Student Characteristics,' 'Percent of ACT Natl,' 'ACT Test Rate,' and 'Mean Score by Test Rate' tabs for this additional context.
For information about accessing and navigating this tool using a keyboard, please see the dashboard help page.
Note: ACT advises discretion when comparing dissimilar populations. Learn about nuances for interpreting the data.
Explore Additional Datasets
- Year-to-year average ACT Composite score changes.
- ACT Composite and ACT Superscore score distributions.
- Career pathway opportunities.
- Industry sector benchmarks and wages.
- Enrollment, retention, and transfer behaviors.
