SAT/ACT Scores Comparison Worksheet

Cigus Vanni of The College Fairy LLC annually compiles average SAT/ACT scores for studentsm who enrolled at most US Colleges & Universities. He has compiled data from 2020, 2022 and recently updated with 2023 data. Lisa Dubuque, a Counselor at Headwaters School in Austin, TX then puts that data into an easy to access/use spreadsheet. It is a great way to compare average scores at various schools that your students may be considering. Here is a link to her spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TThf-5XhaEVdIYj_CPdVoMpTdJk4NcJShUJjT6XMX-M/edit?usp=sharing

Note:

Data based on college Class of 2026 (entered college fall 2022) and include only those students who ENROLLED—not those who APPLIED or those who were ACCEPTED. Data for the Class of 2027 (those who enter fall 2023) is not released until the spring so that schools can report both fall and spring cohort results

Once again—these are figures for students who just completed their first year in college and will enter sophomore year this fall. Can you get more recent scores on individual college websites? You may be able to do so—but watch what you are getting… Are these results from students who APPLIED? Students who were ACCEPTED? Students who ENROLLED? It is not always clear what you are reading—be careful… The numbers here are for students who are ENROLLED at these colleges

It is critical to note that these figures are among the first generated by a cohort in an admissions landscape that was overwhelmingly test-optional. Consequently, if you compare these numbers to those from previous classes, you will observe a notable increase. This is not surprising—the only students who submitted test results under test-optional policies were those with lofty scores. Note also that a number of schools that adopted test-free or test-blind policies did not report any results

SOURCES: The College Board; National Center for Education Statistics (College Navigator program); the Common Data set; various school websites; and the occasional call to admissions to inquire specifically about test results