When it comes to the SAT college admissions test Texas led the nation in the number of public school students who took the test. The College Board, reported that Texas public schools had 123,154 graduating seniors who took the SAT, which is a 10,678 student increase over the participation rate for the Class of 2009.
Even with the large increase, students in most of the state's major ethnic groups earned higher scores this year than last.
If private school students are taken into consideration, 148,102 Texas students took the college admissions test, that is a 6,369 student increase over 2009 participation rates. That number represents the country's largest year-over-year increase in test takers. It also represents the highest percentage increase of any state with more than 10,000 test takers.
Another spike in participation is expected next year because the state paid for more than 56,800 members of the Class of 2011 to take either the SAT or ACT.
The Texas Education Agency will make an announcement in the coming months regarding the availability of free SAT and ACT testing for juniors this school year.
