A recent nationwide study found Utah in the top ten of U.S. states with students showing improvement on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) from 2022 to 2023 (Chart courtesy of Nootroedge).
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah ranks in the top ten of states showing improvement of their students’ scores on the national college entrance/aptitude test in 2023.
The average of Utah students on the widely recognized Scholastic Aptitude Test in 2022 was 1233, according to a new nationwide study by Nootroedge. In 2023, however, average score achieved by Utah students jumped to 1239.
That nearly 0.5 percent increase in statewide SAT scores may not be much, but Utah was one of only 11 states in which scores on the college entrance exam improved at all.
Nootroedge researcher Thomas Riley explained that the recent study calculated the percentage difference in SAT scores between the two years to identify the biggest increases and decreases.
Shockingly, he added, it revealed that out of 50 states investigated, only 11 saw improvement upon the results from 2022.
Utah’s slight improvement in 2023 SAT scores placed the Beehive State in eighth place on the top ten list of most improved states.
Leading that pack was North Dakota, where student SAT score jumped from 1212 in 2022 to 1287 this year, a 6.19 percent increase.
Also leading Utah in that ranking were the states of Nebraska, Arizona, Louisiana, Alabama, Iowa and Kansas, with percentage increases ranging from 2.45 to 0.57.
Following Utah in the top ten were the states of Vermont (with a 0.37 percent increase) and Oklahoma (0.21 percent increase).
The only other state to show improvement in its SAT scores was Arkansas, with just a 0.08 percent increase.
At the other end of the scale was Indiana, dead last with a drop from 1073 in 2022 to 971 in 2023, a decrease from last year of nearly 10 percent.
This is by no means the first time that Nootroedge researchers have singled out Utah for praise.
In October, they ranked Utah fourth in the nation in terms for preparing its student for success in college.
The 1600-point Scholastic Aptitude Test has been used to judge students’ readiness for college-level studies for nearly 100 years.
Most colleges in the Utah System of Higher Education offer open admission, but SAT (or the equivalent American College Test) scores are used in awarding scholarships, so many students submit them with their applications.
As delivered by the College Board, the average SAT score is derived from combining scores from all of the college-preparation test’s varied sections.
For much of its nearly 100-year history, the SAT had two components, Verbal and Mathematical.
Each student’s SAT score is a number between 400 and 1600. The average score is the sum of the two section’s scores in Evidence-Based Reading/Writing, and Math. Each of these two section scores has a possible range of 200 to 800.
Starting in 2024, however, big changes are underway as the SAT switches to a fully digital adaptive testing format. The College Board believes that switch my help students who have previously struggled under non-adaptive testing conditions.
Riley and other researchers at Nootroedge advocate for the use of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancing drugs.
More information about the benefits of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement can be found at https://www.nootroedge.com/.