ACT Research Report Issue/Information Brief - Information Brief - August 2012 - Relationship Between ACT Composite Score and College Degree Completion

Oct 9, 2026

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Explores how ACT Composite scores relate to college degree completion within six years for ACT-tested 2003 high school graduates who enrolled immediately in fall 2003. As Composite scores increased, the likelihood of earning a bachelor’s or associate’s degree by year 6 rose for both four-year and two-year students. Students scoring above 28 showed markedly higher completion rates than those below 18, with higher rates for two-year students suggesting movement from associate’s completion toward bachelor’s completion.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

How ACT Composite Score Relates to Degree Completion

Four-year Students: Bachelor’s Degree Completion

Two-year Students: Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degree Completion

Data Notes and Source Information

ACT Research and Policy Research Reports Educator Reports Policy Reports Issue/Information Briefs Information Brief Students with higher ACT Composite scores are more likely to earn a college degree within six years of initially enrolling in college. Relationship Between ACT Composite Score and College Degree Completion August 2012 How is the ACT Composite score related to the likelihood that a student will complete a college degree? As a student’s ACT Composite score increased, the student’s chances of completing a college degree within six years also increased for ACT-tested 2003 high school graduates who immediately enrolled in a four-year college (“fouryear students”) or in a two-year college (“two-year students”) in fall 2003. Four-year students with a Composite score above 28 had over an 80% chance of earning a bachelor’s degree by the end of year 6; those with a score below 18 had less than a 50% chance of doing so. Two-year students with a Composite score above 28 had over a 60% chance of earning an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree by the end of year 6 compared to a less than a 35% chance for students with a score below 18. For two-year students with higher Composite scores, the associate’s or bachelor’s degree completion rates were substantially higher than associate’s degree completion rates, suggesting that these students may be bypassing earning an associate’s degree to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Six-Year Degree Completion Rates by ACT Composite Score Percent 100 80 60 40 20 0 Four-year students: Bachelor’s degree Two-year students: Associate’s degree Two-year students: Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree 7 11 15 19 23 27 31 35 ACT Composite score Note: Based on data from a random sample of 24,850 ACT-tested 2003 high school graduates who enrolled in college in fall 2003 (18,860 four-year students and 5,990 two-year students) . Degree information was obtained from the National Student Clearinghouse. Degree completion rates were model-based estimates. For a more detailed description of the study, see the full ACT Research Report numbered 2012-2 at [http://www.act.org/research/researchers/reports/pdf/ACT_RR2012-2.pdf](http://www.act.org/research/researchers/reports/pdf/ACT_RR2012-2.pdf). [infobrief@act.org](infobrief@act.org) for more information or to suggest ideas for future ACT Information Briefs. [www.act.org/research](www.act.org/research) ©2012 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. The ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc. , in the U.S.A. and other countries. 18330 IB 2012-30

FAQs

How does ACT Composite score affect college degree completion within six years?

Higher ACT Composite scores are associated with higher chances of completing a college degree within six years. As scores increase, completion likelihood increases for both four-year and two-year students.

What completion patterns appear for four-year students by ACT Composite score?

Four-year students with a Composite score above 28 have over an 80% chance of earning a bachelor’s degree by the end of year 6, while those below 18 have less than a 50% chance.

What do the results suggest for two-year students with higher ACT Composite scores?

Two-year students scoring above 28 show over a 60% chance of earning an associate’s or bachelor’s degree by year 6, compared with less than 35% for scores below 18. The higher associate’s/or bachelor’s completion than associate’s alone suggests these students may bypass earning an associate’s degree to pursue a bachelor’s degree.

Oct 9, 2026

Upload by Adam