Texas ACT Scores Have Risen To Match National Average

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas students' average score on the ACT college entrance exam has risen slightly and now matches the national average.

Results released Wednesday show the state's 2013 high school graduating class had an average score of 20.9 out of a possible 36. That's a tenth of a percentage point higher than 2012.

The 2013 national average score slipped to 20.9 from 21.1 the previous year.

But the percentage of Texas graduates taking the ACT was 37 percent, down two percentage points from 2012.

Nationwide, 54 percent of high school graduates took the ACT, though that includes nine states where nearly all students take it.

Traditionally the ACT has been a rival of the SAT, but it's now taken by at least 50 percent of high school graduates in 29 states.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.