ACT scores fall to historic lows for HS graduates hit by pandemic school closures

Josh Verges, Pioneer Press
Updated ·2 min read

This year’s high school graduates from Minnesota and the rest of the country posted historic low scores on the ACT college admissions exam, the testing nonprofit announced Wednesday.

Nationwide, the class of 2022, which had its sophomore and junior years disrupted by school closures related to the coronavirus pandemic, had a composite score of 19.8, the lowest in at least 30 years.

“This is the fifth consecutive year of declines in average scores, a worrisome trend that began long before the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has persisted,” ACT CEO Janet Godwin said in a news release.

With 69 percent of Minnesota graduates taking the exam, the average score was 21. That’s down from an average of 21.6 the year before, when participation was 60 percent.

Average scores usually go down as a higher proportion of graduates take the exam. But Minnesota’s latest scores were lower even than they were between 2016 and 2020, when almost every student took it at least once and the state was covering the exam fees.

“The class of 2022 has been incredibly resilient, experiencing the pandemic during critical school years, and we are pleased Minnesota students continue to score higher than the national average in all ACT categories,” Education Commissioner Heather Mueller said.

With testing here no longer universal, it is difficult to compare Minnesota’s results to other states. But even with the drop this year, no state had both a higher average score and a higher participation rate.

The most comparable states in terms of participation were Kansas, where 73 percent took the exam and the average score was 19.9, and Missouri, where 66 percent were tested with an average of 20.2.

Here are the results from neighboring states:

  • South Dakota had an average score of 21.5 with 58 percent of graduates taking the exam.

  • Iowa scored a 21.4 with 49 percent participating.

  • Wisconsin scored a 19.4 with 93 percent participating.

  • North Dakota scored a 19.2 with 96 percent participating.

Nationwide, ACT participation has fallen in recent years to just 36 percent.

Many colleges and universities, including Minnesota’s most selective private schools, now make entrance exams optional. The University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus also went test-optional on a trial basis for each of the last three years.

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