Georgia students continue to beat national average on ACT, recording highest scores in reading

For the eighth year in a row, Georgia students beat the national average on the ACT, recording their highest scores in reading.

“The class of 2024 continues to make us proud here in Georgia – from beating the nation on both the SAT and ACT to achieving an all-time-high graduation rate for our state,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “It’s encouraging to see that investing in academic recovery, despite the challenges of the last several years, has paid off for our students and their futures. I offer my congratulations to the class of 2024 and their teachers, parents, and communities who made this possible.”

Georgia students’ average composite score was 21.2 – a minor decrease compared to 2023 when the average was 21.3, but still exceeding the pre-pandemic average of 20.7. Georgia’s schools in every individual subject area exceed the national average, with Georgia students recording their highest score in Reading:

Additionally, the percentage of Georgia students in the class of 2024 meeting ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks was higher than the national average in all subject areas, and the percentage of Georgia students who met all four benchmarks was nine percentage points higher than the national average.

The subject with the highest percentage of Georgia students meeting benchmarks was English, followed by Reading:

College Readiness Benchmarks are scores on the ACT subject-area tests that represent the level of achievement required for students to have a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher, or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher, in corresponding credit-bearing first-year college courses.

All scores are based on 2024 high school graduates who took the ACT at any point during their sophomore, junior, or senior years in high school.