SAT Comparisons Over Time

Students are not getting smarter, but it's worth examining the question as to whether student quality in the schools examined here is improving, at least with respect to SAT scores.

Here we compare average 2006 SAT scores (Math + Verbal) with re-centered 1966 SAT scores for the schools for which we could find 1966 data. The average difference is 16 points, a negligible amount. Breaking down differences by selectivity indicates that highly selective schools, on average, have seen modest improvements in student test scores (55 points) and non-selective schools have seen modest drops (33 points) for the schools examined here. Note that these are estimates of SAT scores based on Department of Education data.

Although there are schools that have seen significant rises (and drops) in average SAT scores over the forty-year interval examined, the magnitude of change cannot account for the magnitude of local institutional changes in GPA.

Finally, it's worth noting that ever since US News began to exert significant influence on the perception of college prestige through its rankings, admissions officers feel extra pressure to select students on the basis of quantitative measures like high SAT scores. Some of the observed increases in SAT scores at an institution may simply reflect "cherry picking" of SATs rather than an actual increase in student quality.

School	SAT 1966	SAT 2006	2006-1966
Adelphi	1140	1068	-72
Alabama	1075	1116	41
Albion	1190	1176	-14
Allegheny	1300	1197	-103
Appalachian State	1010	1117	107
Arkansas	1100	1152	52
Auburn	1130	1129	-1
Ball State	1010	1030	20
Boston U	1270	1270	0
Bowling Green	1111	1010	-101
Brown	1390	1424	34
Bucknell	1330	1306	-24
Butler	1120	1197	77
Carleton	1390	1386	-4
Case Western	1290	1313	23
Central Michigan	1040	1011	-29
Centre	1200	1232	32
Clarion	1140	945	-195
Charleston	1140	1188	48
Colorado	1179	1170	-9
Colorado State	1040	1110	70
Columbia	1352	1431	79
Columbia (Chicago)	970	1051	81
Connecticut	1180	1185	5
Cornell	1370	1379	9
CSU Fullerton	1130	980	-150
CSU San Bernardino	970	903	-67
Dartmouth	1380	1442	62
Delaware	1160	1192	32
DePauw	1220	1227	7
Duke	1320	1451	131
East Carolina	1050	1022	-28
Elon	980	1209	229
Emory	1300	1386	86
Florida	1139	1241	102
Furman	1180	1280	100
Gardner-Webb	910	1004	94
George Washington	1250	1295	45
Georgetown	1310	1387	77
Georgia	1120	1219	99
Georgia Tech	1250	1308	58
Gonzaga	1110	1190	80
Grinnell	1310	1384	74
Hampden - Sydney	1190	1105	-85
Harvard	1460	1484	24
Hope	1150	1177	27
Houston	1110	1055	-55
Idaho	1070	1082	12
Illinois	1228	1289	61
Indiana	1110	1123	13
Iowa	1179	1154	-25
James Madison	1070	1148	78
Johns Hopkins	1350	1375	25
Kansas	1169	1130	-39
Kent State	1075	993	-82
Kentucky	1111	1135	24
Kenyon	1320	1326	6
Lehigh	1340	1305	-35
LSU	1040	930	-110
Macalester	1280	1346	66
Messiah	1100	1159	59
Miami Ohio - Oxford	1240	1208	-32
Michigan	1270	1312	42
Michigan Tech	1160	1169	9
Middlebury	1360	1374	14
Minot State	1012	949	-63
Missouri	1129	1172	43
Missouri State	1093	1090	-3
Monmouth	1180	1069	-111
Montana State	1129	1088	-41
Nebraska - Kearney	1093	1050	-43
New York University	1250	1310	60
North Carolina - Greensboro	1130	1045	-85
North Carolina State	1170	1184	14
North Carolina - Chapel Hill	1230	1295	65
North Dakota	1111	1090	-21
Northern Iowa	1139	1091	-48
Northern Michigan	1120	1050	-70
Northwestern	1280	1402	122
Ohio State	1100	1206	106
Ohio University	1120	1090	-30
Oklahoma	1075	1170	95
Old Dominion	980	1043	63
Oregon	1120	1120	0
Oregon State	1100	1079	-21
Pennsylvania	1370	1394	24
Penn State	1130	1197	67
Pomona	1410	1437	27
Princeton	1380	1475	95
Purdue	1170	1140	-30
Reed	1400	1328	-72
Rensselaer	1360	1308	-52
Roanoke	1130	1085	-45
Rockhurst	1111	1129	18
Rutgers	1200	1195	-5
Smith	1410	1249	-161
South Florida	1120	1089	-31
Southeastern Louisiana	969	990	21
Southern Connecticut State	1130	935	-195
Southern Illinois	1040	1012	-28
Southern Methodist	1160	1223	63
Spelman	840	1076	236
St. Olaf	1240	1262	22
Stanford	1488	1425	-63
SUNY Oswego	1120	1098	-22
Syracuse	1240	1222	-18
Texas	1180	1216	36
Texas A&M	1120	1182	62
Texas State	1048	1070	22
UC - Berkeley	1280	1316	36
UCLA	1228	1276	48
UC-Santa Barbara	1100	1187	87
Utah	1111	1114	3
Utah State	1012	1109	97
Vanderbilt	1310	1370	60
Virginia	1179	1320	141
Virginia Commonwealth	1149	1050	-99
Virginia Tech	1129	1195	66
Wake Forest	1220	1320	100
Washington - Seattle	1311	1201	-110
Washington and Lee University	1300	1373	73
Washington State	1180	1090	-90
Washington University (MO)	1290	1434	144
Western Washington	1111	1110	-1
Wheaton	1230	1318	88
Whitman	1250	1320	70
William and Mary	1280	1340	60
Winthrop	1020	1060	40
Wisconsin - La Crosse	1040	1150	110
Wisconsin - Madison	1230	1269	39
Wisconsin - Oshkosh	1075	1030	-45
Wyoming	1119	1076	-43
Average	1177	1193	16

Source:

Astin, A., Predicting Academic Performance in College, Free Press, 1971.

http://nces.ed.gov/IPEDS/