S.C. sees record SAT participation

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South Carolina saw a 28% increase in students taking the SAT in 2019 from 2018, one of the largest participation increases in the country, according to a news release from the S.C. Department of Education.

The department said since the implementation of SAT School Day, in which the state covers testing costs and the SAT is administered during the school day, more than 6,000 additional students took the test.

Results released by the College Board show that 31,633 members, or 68%, of S.C.’s class of 2019 took the SAT. That number represented an increase of 6,180 students, or 28%, from 2018. African American students accounted for 25% of test-takers in S.C., compared to 13% in the nation.

Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, juniors were offered an opportunity to take either the SAT or the ACT during the school day, with registration fees paid by the state. In the class of 2019, 16,429 public school students participated in SAT School Day.

The mean SAT score for South S.C. public school students was 1021, compared to the national mean of 1039.

The SAT relies on two main components: evidence-based reading and writing, and math. S.C. public school students’ mean reading and writing score was 521, compared with a national mean of 524. Students’ mean math score was 500, compared with 515 for the nation.

The College Board also released Advanced Placement exam results. S.C. students scored above the national average in eight out of the top 10 subjects.

Statewide, 32,482 students took 53,147 AP exams, a 2% increase from 2018. The number of AP exams with scores of 3, 4 or 5 increased 2.2%, to 31,088.

An AP exam score of 3 indicates a students is qualified to take college-level courses. Colleges and universities can grant class credit and use AP scores to place students in higher-level courses.

“South Carolina's continued national prominence on Advanced Placement is testament to the rigorous instruction delivered by teachers across our state,” S.C. Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said in the release. “This year we also saw an unprecedented number of students taking the SAT, many of whom would not have had the opportunity had the state not made the decision two years ago to cover its cost. We must now ensure that this new opportunity is met with the necessary course work to be successful in college and beyond.”