Texas Education Agency

AUSTIN – Data released today by the College Board shows that over the past five years, Texas has experienced a huge increase in the number of college-bound minority students who take the SAT college admissions test.

The number of Hispanic students in Texas public schools who took the SAT between the 2006-2007 school year and the 2010-2011 school year increased by 57.7 percent.

Over the same five-year period, the number of African-American SAT examinees in the public schools increased 43.4 percent, while the number of Asian examinees in Texas increased 23.4 percent. The number of all Texas public school students taking the test increased by 21.6 percent during this period.

“There is clearly an increase in the college-going culture in this state. Whether it’s elementary schools decorated with college pennants, new high-tech science and technology programs or expanding dual enrollment and Advanced Placement courses, there is a synergy in Texas that is causing more students to consider going to college,” Commissioner of Education Robert Scott said.

The latest data shows that 147,960 students or 54 percent of the Class of 2011 who graduated from Texas public schools took the SAT. The figure rises to 58 percent when private school students are included in the calculation.

Texas ranked 18^thin public school student participation. Around the country, the public school participation rate ranged from 100 percent in Maine to three percent each in Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota.

States with the lowest participation rates typically have the highest test scores, while those that draw from a larger pool have lower scores.

Minority public school students in Texas outpaced their counterparts nationally on the mathematics test. Hispanic students in Texas, who represent 24 percent of all the Hispanics nationally who took the SAT, increased their mean mathematics score by one point, to 467. The score for Hispanics nationally fell one point to 460.

African-American public school students in Texas, who represent about 12 percent of all African-American students tested nationally, increased their mean mathematics score two points to 438, substantially higher than the score of 425 posted nationally by African-American public school students. The math scores for this group nationally dropped one point.

Below are the scores and participation information for the three-part test, which consists of critical reading, mathematics and writing sections.

Texas Public School Student Group*	Number of Class of 2011 test takers	Critical Reading	Mathematics	Writing
African-American	21,694	422	438	411
Change from 2010	15.80%	-1	+2	-4
Asian American	10,012	522	582	520
Change from 2010	13.50%	-3	-2	-3
Hispanics Overall	50,662	438	467	428
Change from 2010	21.60%	-5	+1	-6
White	59,989	518	539	499
Change from 2010	11.60%	-4	-2	-5

*This represents only the state's major ethnic groups.

Student group	Number of test takers	Critical Reading	Mathematics	Writing
Texas - public schools	147,960	475	500	461
Change from 2010	15.70%	-5	-2	-7
Nation - public schools	1,267,239	494	506	483
Change from 2010	10.90%	-3	-4	-3
Texas - all schools	166,012	479	502	465
Change from 2010	7.90%	-4	-2	-7
Nation - all schools	1,647,123	497	514	489
Change from 2010	3.10%	-3	-1	-2

The higher education institutions that received the most SAT score reports in 2011 were, in order:

University of Texas at Austin
Texas A&M University in College Station
Texas State University in San Marcos
Baylor University in Waco
University of Texas at San Antonio

Contact:

Division of Communications
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas 78757
Phone: (512) 463-9000
E-mail: teainfo@tea.state.tx.us

Page last modified on 9/14/2011.