African-American Scores on the SAT Test Trail Those of Every Other Major Ethnic Group in the United States

In 2007 the average black score on the combined math and verbal portions of the SAT test was 862. The mean score for whites on the combined math and verbal SAT was 1061, nearly 17 percent higher.

Not only are African-American scores on the SAT far below the scores of whites, but they also trail the scores of every other major ethnic group in the United States including students of Puerto Rican and Mexican backgrounds. In fact, few people realize that American Indian and Alaska Native students on average score 119 points higher than the average score of black students. Mexican-American students score 59 points higher than blacks. On average, Asian American students score 230 points, or 19 percent, higher than African Americans.

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