S.C. students outperform national average on SAT, AP exams

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South Carolina outperformed the national averages on SAT and Advanced Placement exams this year, according to data released by the S.C. Department of Education.

S.C. public school students in the class of 2018 scored 15 points above the national average on the SAT exam and exceeded the national average of AP exams, with scores of 3 or higher on seven out of the top 10 tested subjects, the department said in a news release, citing College Board data.

“These results illustrate the importance of an education system that is based off multiple measures,” State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said in the release. “While there is still work to be done in other areas, the data from these two rigorous national assessments prove that South Carolina students can surpass their peers nationally and that our schools are moving in the right direction.”

SAT

A total of 22,141 S.C. public school students, or 50% of the class of 2018, took the SAT, a 5.7% increase from last year’s class.

The SAT relies on two main components: evidence-based reading and writing, and math. Scores range from 400 to 1600 overall, with 200 to 800 points coming from each component.

South Carolina’s overall average score was 1064. South Carolina’s average reading and writing score was 543, which is 14 points above the national average. The state and national average math score was the same at 520.

Advanced Placement

A total of 32,641 students took AP exams, a 5.7% increase from 2017, and the number of exams taken increased 6.6% to 52,115. Students can take AP exams in more than one subject area.

The number of AP exams with scores of 3 or higher also increased 10.1% to 30,427.

AP exam scores of 3 indicate a student is qualified to take college-level courses. Scores of 4 indicate a student is well-qualified, and a 5 indicates a student is extremely well-qualified. Colleges and universities often grant class credit based on AP scores and use AP scores of 3 or higher to place students in higher-level courses.

A total of 7,795 S.C. students were named AP Scholars, meaning they scored 3 or higher on three or more exams. That was an 8.6% increase from 2017.

Percentage of public school AP exams with scores of 3 or higher