Admissions Officers Puzzled by Drop in SAT Scores

Inside Higher Education reports that college admissions officals across the country are puzzled by an overall drop in average SAT scores this year.

The College Board, which administers the SAT, says that there is only a 4 to 5 point difference between median scores for this year and last year. It assures educators and the public that this year's test scores can be validly compared to scores from past years.

However, a number of colleges and universities are reporting larger differences, with some the median scores for some applicant pools being 10 to 20 points lower than for the previous year.

Admissions officers are especially puzzled by this decline because GPAs for the same groups of students have either held steady or increased.

“I’m seeing scores that are just amazing to me," Bob Voss, the dean of admissions at Philadelphia's La Salle University, is quoted as saying, referring to this year's inconsistencies between SAT scores and other indicators of applicants' ability. He noted that La Salle uses SAT scores to identify incoming students who should take enrichment programs, and worries that the University may have directed some students to take enrichment programs where it was not necessary.

The College Board, in a memo to college admissions officers, said that it thinks the decline may be due to high school students taking the SAT fewer times on average. It noted that students who re-take the test usually increase their overall scores by an average of 30 points; if fewer students are re-taking the test, average test scores would decline.

Source: "New SAT Mystery," by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Education, May 3, 2006

Also see "2006 SAT® Cohort Averages" - press release from the College Board (www.collegeboard.com/prof/2006_sat_cohort_avg.html)