The Racial Scoring Gap on the SAT at High Schools Operated by the U.S. Defense Department

According to statistics released to JBHE by the Department of Defense, white students at schools operated by the Army overseas score near the level of the nationwide average for white students at all public and private schools in the United States. But blacks at Defense Department schools routinely beat the nationwide average score for blacks who attend all public and private schools in the U.S. In 2005 the average score on the combined SAT for black students at Defense Department schools was 902, which is 38 points higher than the 864 national average for black students. 

Although the racial scoring gap between blacks and whites at these schools is significantly smaller than the nationwide racial scoring gap at all schools in the United States, a large SAT scoring gap remains between blacks and whites at Army-run schools. In 2005, on the combined SAT, whites at Defense Department schools overseas scored 172 points higher than blacks at these schools. Nationally, whites on average scored 204 points higher than blacks.