The Average Florida Graduate Isn’t Ready For College, According to SAT Results

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The average Florida graduate isn't ready for college-level work, according to SAT results.

Fewer than half of students who took the SAT last year scored high enough to be considered ready for college-level work — including the average Florida public school student who took the test — according to the test’s creator.

Just 43 percent of class of 2013 students who took the SAT scored 1550 or higher, a score the College Board says makes those students more likely to earn at least a GPA of B- or better their freshman year, The Atlantic reports. Those students are also more likely to finish their degree.

Florida scores did not change much from 2012. The average Florida student earned a 488 on the reading test, 486 on the math test and 469 on the writing test. Scores range from 200 to 800 points for each test.

The College Board says flat scores are a cause for alarm, The Atlantic reported:

“While some might see stagnant scores as no news, the College Board considers them a call to action. These scores can and must change — and the College Board feels a sense of responsibility to help make that happen,” the report said.

The report also offered insights into why some students graduated high school prepared for college and others didn’t. Students in the class of 2013 who met or exceeded the benchmark were more likely to have completed a core curriculum, to have taken honors or AP courses, and to have taken higher-level mathematics courses, like precalculus, calculus, and trigonometry.

Although the SAT takers in the class of 2013 were the most diverse group of test takers ever, the report showed that minority students’ scores have only slightly improved in the past year.