Income Differences Do Not Explain the Black-White Scoring Gap on the SAT

A number of reasons are advanced to explain the large and persisting black-white SAT scoring gap. Sharp differences in family incomes are a major factor. Always there has been a direct correlation between family income and SAT scores. For both blacks and whites, as income goes up, so do test scores.

In 2007, 25 percent of all black SAT test takers were from families with annual incomes below $20,000. Only 4 percent of white test takers were from families with incomes below $20,000. At the other extreme, 10 percent of all black test takers were from families with incomes of more than $100,000. The comparable figure for white test takers was 33 percent.

But there is a major flaw in the thesis that income differences explain the racial gap. Consider these observable facts from The College Board’s 2007 data on the SAT:

• Whites from families with incomes of less than $10,000 had a mean SAT score of 980. This is 118 points higher than the national mean for all blacks.

• Whites from families with incomes below $10,000 had a mean SAT test score that was 32 points higher than blacks whose families had incomes of more than $100,000.

Copyright © 2007. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.