The Racial Scoring Gap of the New SAT College Entrance Examination

The College Board has released its annual report on the scores of graduating high school seniors in the Class of 2017 on the SAT college entrance examination. The College Board has “redesigned” the SAT and therefore it claims that current scores cannot be compared to those from the past. Scores on the redesigned test are significantly higher than those from previous years.

The SAT is scored on a scale of 200 to 800 points for both the reading and mathematics sections of the test. Whites had an average score of 565 on the reading section compared to an average score for Blacks of 479. On the mathematics section, the mean score for Whites was 553 compared to 462 for Blacks.

For the Class of 2017, the mean combined score on the SAT test was 1118 for White students and 941 for Black students. This 177-point scoring gap is less than has been the case in the past. But The College Board maintains that these scores cannot be compared to previous results, so we have no idea if Black students are closing the racial gap.

Related Articles

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