Black and Latino SAT Scores Up Slightly

The scores of black and Latino students on the Scholastic Aptitude Test for college entrance rose slightly again this year, continuing a decade of improvement but remaining well below the national average, the College Board recently announced.

The average black student this year scored 737 points out of a possible 1,600; that is 9 points higher than last year and 51 more than in 1978. Latinos averaged 810, up 7 points from last year and 38 over the past decade.

Meanwhile, the national average for all students dropped 2 points this year to 904, the first dip in 8 years. California scores rose 2 points to 908.

The test is divided into verbal and mathematical portions, with each part scored on a scale of 200 to 800. The national average verbal score fell 2 points this year to 428 and math remained at 476. In California, the average scores this year were 424 in verbal, the same as the previous year, and 484 in math, up 2 points. The total of 908 was 15 points higher than a decade ago.