BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana's education department says the number of public high school seniors who scored well enough on the ACT standardized test to enter college without remedial work continues to grow.
The department released updated data Thursday. Of the latest group of graduating seniors, 24,619 students earned an ACT score of 18 or higher. That's a boost of 959 students from 2014.
The number of students who scored well enough to earn scholarships through the state's TOPS free college tuition program also increased. Nearly 1,000 more students reached a score to be eligible for TOPS than in the previous year, according to the education department.
State Superintendent John White credited rising standards and accountability changes for the improvements.
Louisiana's average ACT score is 19.4 on a 36-point scale, the department says.
– by AP Reporter Melinda Deslatte
