The Persisting Racial Gap on the SAT College Entrance Examination

In 2011, 215,816 African-American high school seniors took the SAT college entrance examination. They represented 13 percent of all SAT test takers in the Class of 2011.

The mean score for blacks on the combined critical reading and mathematical portions of the SAT was 855. This was a two-point decline from a year ago.

The mean score for whites on the reading and mathematics sections of the SAT was 1063, 208 points higher than the mean score for blacks.

The long-term trend in the racial scoring gap on the SAT is not encouraging. Since 1988, the racial gap on the reading and mathematics sections of the SAT has increased from 189 points to 208 points.

Related Articles

1 COMMENT

  1. Isn’t this distorting the real situation by not taking into account the change in the makeup of who is taking the test each year? I see this same data badly misrepresented again and again. It is about time we all started talking about what is really happening not what we can misrepresent the statistics to show.

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

California State University Sacramento Launches Black Honors College

Officially launching for the fall 2024 semester, the Black Honors College will support students from all backgrounds who study Black history, life, and culture by providing them with a specialized curriculum and mentoring opportunities.

Higher Education Gifts or Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

In Memoriam: Norman B. Anderson, 1955-2024

Dr. Anderson was the assistant vice president for research and academic affairs at Florida State University at the time of his death. He had an extensive career in clinical psychology, which led him to become the first African American chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association.

Georgia State University Launches Program to Support Black Women in Tech

While Black women account for roughly 29 percent of the Georgia State University undergradaute student body, they represent only 10 percent of the university's computer science majors and 18 percent of the computer information systems majors.

Featured Jobs