23 Percent of College Freshmen Won't Earn above a 'C'

Last school year, 1.4 million high school seniors took the ACT. Of those 1.4 million students, only 23 percent are expected to make as high as a “C” during their freshman year in college. This report, which was released by the company that makes the ACT, is based on the scores of the 2009 high school graduates who took the ACT. This does not represent those who took the SAT.
Although more and more students are taking the ACT each year, the average score is staying about the same. The average score on the ACT was 21.2 out of a possible 36. The score has gone up since 2006, when the average score was only 21.0.
Cynthia Schmesier, president of ACT’s education division, is actually quite happy with these results. Schmesier expected a larger drop in the average ACT score, due to the more diverse student population who is taking the test today than five years ago.
Schmesier said “one would reasonably expect a drop (in the average scores, but) we’re not seeing that, which to us is a positive indication.”
However, the report did find some scary stuff:

• 40 percent of students have problems with common grammatical issues, such as when to use an adverb vs. an adjective, or to make sure the verb agrees with the subject in a sentence
• 40 percent could not perform long division involving percentages
• 30 percent were unable to determine which details were important to a text on the whole

And the big one:
– Only 23 percent can be expected to make as high as a “C” in any of their math, English, reading or science classes
So Class of 2010, it’s your turn. Start studying for those ACT tests! With a little practice, maybe you can raise the average score for the first time in four years.
Via USA Today