Approximately 6,000 Students Took Online Version of the ACT in Recent Weeks

Iowa City, Iowa —ACT officially launched the online version of the ACT® test for its state and district testing program this past month. Approximately 6,000 high school students across the United States took the ACT on a computer at national test centers and in high school classrooms over the past few weeks, earning college-reportable scores.

“The administration of the online ACT went smoothly,” said Jon Erickson, ACT president. “We are very excited about the results and the continued growth and development of our online ACT program. ACT’s goal is to increase student access to higher education, and we believe technology will be a valuable tool in helping us to reach this goal.”

It was the second time that ACT has administered the test in an online format with college-reportable scores. Approximately 4,000 students took the online version a year ago in a pilot administration.

“We learned a great deal from last year’s successful pilot, and we applied those lessons to help fine tune the online experience for examinees,” said Erickson. ”This is part of ACT’s efforts to continuously improve our programs on a measured, gradual basis to avoid radical changes for students.”

The content of the online exam was the same as that of the paper-and-pencil version, and students’ scores will mean the same in terms of level of achievement for this administration.

“We aren’t changing the curriculum-based content of the ACT test,” said Erickson. “We’re simply providing another way to take the exam, employing the advanced technology that most students are accustomed to using on a daily basis.”

The online ACT will initially be offered on an optional basis only to high schools that administer the exam to all students as part of their districtwide or statewide assessment programs. It will not be offered on the ACT national, Saturday morning test dates at this time. Delivery of the online ACT for statewide and districtwide testing will be expanded next spring.

Featured

  • Houston K–12 District Opens New Elementary School

    The Lamar Consolidated Independent School District (Lamar CISD) recently announced the completion of a new elementary school in a western suburb of Houston, Texas, according to a news release. Haygood Elementary School measures in at 110,000 square feet, has the capacity for 854 students, and is the first of three new schools scheduled to be built in the Cross Creek West community.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • UT System Approves First Funds for New Campus

    The University of Texas System Board of Regents recently approved funds to build the first facility of a new campus in far west Fort Worth, Texas, according to university news. UTA West will serve as a branch of the University of Texas at Arlington and is scheduled to open in fall 2028.

  • Hawaii Elementary School Breaks Ground on New Classroom Building

    Kealakehe Elementary School in Kailua, Hawaii, recently began construction on a new, $16-million classroom building for its campus, according to a news release. The 13,000-square-foot building will stand two stories and connect the existing upper and lower campuses.