{"id":314971,"date":"2026-06-11T12:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T16:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=short-read&p=314971"},"modified":"2026-06-16T10:03:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:03:29","slug":"for-the-100th-anniversary-of-the-sat-a-look-at-standardized-test-scores-over-time","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2026\/06\/11\/for-the-100th-anniversary-of-the-sat-a-look-at-standardized-test-scores-over-time\/","title":{"rendered":"For the 100th anniversary of the SAT, a look at standardized test scores over time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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High school students take the College Board exams on March 7, 1964. (Leffler\/Library of Congress\/Interim Archives via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On June 23, 1926, about 8,000 high school students across the United States took the first Scholastic Aptitude Test<\/a>, known today as the SAT. That test looked very different than the one that about 2 million high school students<\/a> now take each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current SAT asks students to answer 98 questions<\/a> \u2013 54 in reading and writing and 44 in math \u2013 in 134 minutes total. In 1926, the test was much faster paced, with 315 questions in just 97 minutes<\/a>. Students were told they probably wouldn\u2019t get to every question, and over the next nearly two decades, the test developers steadily made the test shorter and extended the time limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The content of the SAT evolved over time, too. The test was originally modeled after the Army\u2019s IQ test<\/a> and intended to evaluate students\u2019 intelligence for admission to elite colleges. In 1994, the test developers added math questions that required students to write in their own answer rather than selecting one of several choices. The developers also got rid of questions asking students to identify the antonym of a given vocabulary word, to move away from rote memorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SAT has also evolved as technology has changed. The College Board, which oversees the exam, began to allow calculators in 1994. In 2024, it moved to fully digital testing<\/a> using laptops or tablets. The digital test is adaptive, which means the questions are tailored to how well each student does on an initial set of questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About this research<\/summary>\n

Ahead of the SAT\u2019s 100th anniversary on June 23, this Pew Research Center analysis looks at how SAT and ACT scores \u2013 and the tests themselves \u2013 have changed over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did we do this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Pew Research Center does research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. This work builds on our previous work on higher education<\/a> and what factors colleges should consider in admissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Pew Research Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did we do this?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This analysis primarily uses data from the National Center for Education Statistics<\/a> (NCES) to examine average SAT and ACT scores among high school students over time. If a student took one of the tests multiple times, NCES counts only the most recent score. Refer to NCES tables 226.10 through 226.50 for more information on how this data is collected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also relied on news reports and other sources to explore the history of the SAT and ACT, as well as Pew Research Center surveys about the use of standardized test scores in college admissions. Links to these sources are provided in the text.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

How SAT scores have changed over time<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Although the format of the SAT has changed and the exact questions vary year to year, it\u2019s possible to compare many years of SAT scores in each subject area. That\u2019s in part because the College Board \u201crecentered\u201d scores<\/a> in 1994 to reflect not only the changes to the test, but also the fact that many more students from varying academic backgrounds were taking the test than in the 1930s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, several changes in 2016<\/a> \u2013 including eliminating the penalty for wrong answers \u2013 mean that SAT scores beginning that year are not directly comparable with those from prior years.<\/p>\n\n\n

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On the SAT, reading scores outpaced math from 1967 through 1989 \u2013 and again starting in 2017<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Average SAT scores on reading and math sections<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Note: Possible scores on each section range from 200 to 800. Scores before and after 2016 should not be compared because of significant changes to the test that year. Scores from 2016 are not shown because they are not directly comparable with any other year. Each year represents the school year ending that spring.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
Source: National Center for Education Statistics.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Share this chart<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t