Over the past three years, standardized test scores for college-bound students have experienced a notable decline. Last year, the average ACT score dropped to 19.4 from 19.5 in 2023, continuing a downward trend from 19.8 in 2022 and 20.3 in 2021. Similarly, the average SAT total score decreased to 1024 in 2024, down from 1028 in 2023 and 1050 in 2022.
These declining scores coincide with significant shifts in college admissions policies. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted many institutions to adopt test-optional or test-blind policies due to challenges in test administration.
Implications for College Student Services
The convergence of declining test scores and fluctuating admissions policies presents unique challenges for college student services, particularly those supporting first-year and second-year students. Lower standardized test scores may indicate gaps in foundational academic skills, necessitating enhanced support services to ensure student success.
Strategies for Academic Advisors, Enrollment Teams, and Student Affairs Leaders
Build More Bridges to Academic Support Programs: When academic advisors recognize that a student is facing academic challenges, they’ve historically referred the student to tutoring.
However, we cannot assume the student follows through on that referral and knows what that means. Plan joint meetings between advising and academic services, increasing collaboration while aligning efforts. Track how many students flow from advising to tutoring, and brainstorm ways to increase that number every month-over-month.
Proactive Student Assessment: Early assessment of students' academic strengths and weaknesses can facilitate targeted interventions.
Develop multifaceted evaluation methods such as an onboarding survey or the use of a simple and effective tool in their first advising meeting. Use these tools to assess their time management, ability to prioritize, goals or lack thereof, study habits, and wellness or financial factors affecting academic performance.
Flexible Curriculum Design: On a larger level, introduce self-paced modular courses or online workshops focusing on essential skills such as critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, and academic writing. These can serve as a bridge to bolster students' competencies in targeted areas.
For example, all students taking the online version of the basic speech class at the University of Arizona Global Campus are required to take a live workshop early in the course, which addresses the most common pitfalls for students taking an online speech class.
Professional Development for Staff: Provide flexible training for academic advisors, student success coaches, and student affairs professionals to equip them with coaching strategies to support a diverse student population. This training includes techniques for assisting students with varying levels of academic and college preparedness.
By adopting these strategies, college student services can proactively address the challenges posed by recent trends in standardized testing and admissions policies, fostering an environment conducive to all students' academic and personal development.
