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Minnesota Milestones 2010: College Readiness
 
 
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Indicator 11: College Readiness

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Goal: Minnesotans will excel in basic and challenging academic skills and knowledge.
Rationale: Students who are prepared for the demands of the college classroom are more likely to be successful academically and learn the challenging subjects needed in the modern economy.
About this indicator: College readiness scores have risen, but a large share of students are still not adequately prepared. Among the 70 percent of Minnesota high school graduates who took the ACT college-readiness test in 2010, 35 percent met all four college-readiness benchmarks (English, math, reading and science). The percentage has increased from 28 percent in 2006.
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Percent of ACT-tested United States graduates meeting all 4 college-readiness benchmarks
YearData
Percent of ACT-tested Minnesota graduates meeting all 4 college-readiness benchmarks, ACT Edit trend | Edit data
Percent of ACT-tested United States graduates meeting all 4 college-readiness benchmarks, ACT Edit trend | Edit data
Minnesota United States
200628% 21%
200731% 23%
200832% 22%
200932% 23%
201035% 24%
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For comparison: Nationally, 24 percent of those taking the test met all four benchmarks. In 2010, 47 percent of U.S. high school graduates took the ACT. Minnesota students are most likely to meet the English benchmark (79 percent) and least likely to achieve the science benchmark (42 percent).
Things to think about: While test scores have gone up in recent years, almost two-thirds of graduates taking the test are rated as below standard for college readiness.
Sources:
Local data:

Milestones is a product of the Minnesota State Demographic Center, a division of the Department of Administration