Black Students Lag Their White Peers in Taking SAT II Subject Tests

Most of the nation’s academically strongest colleges and universities require applicants to take one or more SAT II subject tests. Most lower-tier institutions do not require applicants to take these tests. Therefore, students who take SAT II tests tend to be the academic cream of college-bound high school students.

In 2009, 294,893 high school seniors nationwide took at least one of the advanced SAT II subject tests. Within this group there were 16,182 black students who took one or more SAT II tests. Therefore, blacks made up only 5.5 percent of all students who took at least one of the SAT subject tests. In contrast, blacks made up more than 12 percent of all students who took the regular SAT test.

Looking at the racial gap in SAT II test takers another way, we find that in 2009, 7.7 percent of all black students who took the standard or regular SAT also took one or more of the SAT II tests. In contrast, 15.2 percent of the white students who took the SAT I also took one or more SAT II tests.

Copyright © 2009. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.