Table 136.

SAT score averages of college-bound seniors, by selected student characteristics: Selected years, 1995-96 through 2006-07

Selected student characteristic	1995-96			1999-2000			2002-031		2004-051		2005-06				2006-07
	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Percentage distribution	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Percentage distribution	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Writing score2	Percentage distribution	Critical reading score	Mathe-matics score	Writing score2	Percentage distribution
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
All students	505	508	100	505	514	100	507	519	508	520	503	518	497	100	502	515	494	100
High school rank
Top decile	591	606	22	589	608	†	585	607	585	606	580	604	577	31	580	602	575	32
Second decile	530	539	22	528	543	†	522	539	523	540	516	537	511	25	516	534	508	26
Second quintile	494	496	28	493	500	†	486	494	488	499	484	498	476	20	484	497	474	20
Third quintile	455	448	24	455	453	†	449	449	452	455	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Fourth quintile	429	418	4	425	419	†	420	417	425	424	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Fifth quintile	411	401	1	408	401	†	410	410	426	430	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Bottom three quintiles3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	443	449	435	23	444	450	434	22
High school grade point average
A+ (97-100)	617	632	6	610	628	7	607	625	607	625	602	621	599	7	604	620	599	7
A (93-96)	573	583	14	567	582	16	566	583	570	585	563	582	559	18	565	581	559	18
A- (90-92)	545	554	15	540	553	17	538	552	541	555	534	552	529	18	534	550	528	18
B (80-89)	486	485	49	482	486	47	480	485	484	491	479	489	471	46	478	486	469	45
C (70-79)	432	426	15	428	426	12	425	424	430	432	426	428	414	11	424	427	411	11
D, E, or F (below 70)	414	408	#	405	406	#	416	430	415	439	406	413	389	#	403	412	388	#
Intended college major4
Agriculture/natural resources	491	484	2	490	486	1	484	482	487	486	481	485	469	1	476	480	463	1
Architecture/environmental design	492	519	3	494	524	2	483	511	495	527	488	528	485	3	492	535	486	3
Area, ethnic, cultural and gender studies	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	547	514	533	#
Arts: visual/performing	520	497	6	518	502	8	514	500	521	506	516	502	507	9	517	503	507	9
Biological sciences	546	545	6	544	548	5	543	553	547	558	540	554	532	6	540	552	531	6
Business and commerce	483	500	13	487	510	14	489	512	491	515	486	511	481	15	485	510	479	15
Communications	527	497	4	526	505	4	524	506	527	509	522	504	520	4	523	501	519	4
Computer or information sciences	497	522	3	499	533	6	503	535	508	535	503	534	482	4	505	533	481	3
Construction trades	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	415	447	402	#
Education	487	477	8	483	481	9	482	483	486	488	480	484	478	8	480	483	476	8
Engineering	525	569	8	523	573	8	525	574	529	579	519	577	506	8	524	579	510	8
Engineering technologies/techniques	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	451	491	435	1
Foreign/classical languages	556	534	#	558	539	1	564	545	575	551	572	549	563	1	581	549	569	1
General/interdisciplinary	576	553	#	562	545	#	547	539	546	535	542	532	532	#	†	†	†	†
Health and allied services	500	505	19	497	505	16	489	498	490	501	485	498	483	18	487	498	484	19
History	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	556	518	528	1
Home economics5	458	452	#	462	462	#	462	462	463	466	462	466	461	#	463	464	458	#
Language and literature	605	545	1	608	552	1	603	550	606	552	597	541	584	2	596	536	581	2
Legal professions and studies	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	516	505	504	2
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	531	509	516	1
Library and archival sciences	554	512	#	556	511	#	572	512	577	511	579	509	542	#	592	517	544	#
Mathematics	552	628	1	551	630	1	545	626	545	626	539	624	537	1	533	614	529	1
Mechanic and repair technologies/technician	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	423	449	405	#
Military sciences	503	505	#	505	512	#	513	516	522	526	510	521	487	1	517	524	492	#
Multi/interdisciplinary studies	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	582	584	570	#
Natural resources and conservation	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	499	502	481	#
Parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	449	462	437	#
Personal and culinary services	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	444	440	432	#
Philosophy/religion/theology	560	536	#	560	539	1	562	544	561	542	557	537	535	1	563	538	541	#
Physical sciences	575	595	1	569	592	1	563	588	565	591	557	589	542	2	560	589	545	2
Precision production	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	442	462	409	#
Psychology	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	506	488	496	4
Public affairs and services	458	448	3	459	454	3	462	458	465	463	462	461	454	3	497	480	488	1
Security and protective services	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	455	457	444	2
Social sciences and history	532	509	11	532	513	11	531	514	540	522	539	519	525	9	†	†	†	†
Social sciences	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	569	544	551	3
Technical and vocational	435	441	1	442	452	1	441	450	445	456	437	454	421	1	†	†	†	†
Theology and religious vocations	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	541	524	521	#
Transportation and materials moving	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	476	495	461	#
Other	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	443	445	430	#
Undecided	500	507	7	512	521	7	516	528	517	530	512	530	502	3	519	535	508	3
Degree-level goal
Certificate program	434	439	1	439	453	1	441	456	445	463	443	462	435	1	442	461	434	1
Associate's degree	422	415	2	420	419	2	417	416	420	421	416	420	409	1	415	419	407	1
Bachelor's degree	476	476	23	478	483	25	475	481	481	487	477	487	469	25	476	485	467	26
Master's degree	514	518	29	515	526	31	513	524	516	526	512	525	505	30	510	522	502	30
Doctor's or related degree	548	552	24	547	554	22	542	552	542	552	539	553	532	20	540	550	531	20
Other	430	438	1	442	454	1	441	453	442	464	439	456	436	1	436	452	432	1
Undecided	502	503	20	508	514	19	514	523	517	527	515	528	508	22	517	527	508	22
Family income6
Less than $10,000	429	444	4	425	447	‡	420	444	426	458	429	457	427	4	427	451	423	4
$10,000, but less than $20,000	456	464	8	447	460	‡	437	452	443	463	445	465	440	7	453	472	446	8
$20,000, but less than $30,000	482	482	10	471	478	‡	460	467	463	474	462	474	454	8	454	465	444	6
$30,000, but less than $40,000	497	495	12	490	493	‡	480	484	480	487	478	488	470	10	476	485	466	9
$40,000, but less than $50,000	509	507	10	503	505	‡	495	498	496	500	493	501	483	8	489	496	477	8
$50,000, but less than $60,000	517	517	9	511	515	‡	504	508	505	509	500	509	490	9	497	504	486	8
$60,000, but less than $70,000	524	525	7	517	522	‡	511	514	511	515	505	515	496	8	504	511	493	8
$70,000, but less than $80,000	531	533	6	524	530	‡	518	523	517	522	511	521	502	9	508	516	498	9
$80,000 to $100,000	541	544	7	536	543	‡	529	536	529	534	523	534	514	13	520	529	510	14
More than $100,000	560	569	9	558	571	‡	555	568	554	565	549	564	543	24	544	556	537	26
Highest level of parental education
No high school diploma	414	439	4	413	442	4	413	443	419	452	418	445	418	4	421	445	418	4
High school diploma	475	474	35	472	477	33	470	475	471	479	467	478	460	31	466	476	457	31
Associate's degree	489	487	8	488	491	9	487	491	489	494	484	493	474	8	484	492	473	9
Bachelor's degree	525	529	28	525	533	29	525	534	527	536	522	536	514	30	522	533	513	30
Graduate degree	556	558	25	558	566	25	559	569	561	570	558	571	552	27	560	569	552	26

— Not available. † Not applicable. # Rounds to zero. ‡Reporting standards not met. 1 Percentage distribution not reported since this year had less than 80 percent combined unit and item response rate. 2 Writing data are based on students who took the SAT writing section, which was introduced in March 2005. 3 Beginning in 2005-06, the College Board has reported third, fourth, and fifth quintiles as the bottom three quintiles instead of reporting them separately as in previous years. 4 Data may not be comparable over time because of additions to the list of majors and changes in subspecialties within majors. 5 Home economics was changed to Family and consumer sciences/human sciences as of 2006-07. 6 Because income categories have not been adjusted for inflation over time, the distribution of students has shifted toward the higher income categories. Differences between specific categories over time should be interpreted with caution. NOTE: Data are for seniors who took the SAT any time during their high school years through March of their senior year. If a student took a test more than once, the most recent score was used. The SAT was formerly known as the Scholastic Assessment Test and the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Possible scores on each part of the SAT range from 200 to 800. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and survey item nonresponse. SOURCE: College Entrance Examination Board, College-Bound Seniors: Total Group Profile [National] Report, selected years, 1995-96 through 2006-07, retrieved August 28, 2007, from http://www.collegeboard.com/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2007/reports.html. (This table was prepared August 2007.)