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Digest of Education Statistics
2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 226.10. Number, percentage distribution, and SAT mean scores of high school seniors taking the SAT, by sex, race/ethnicity, first language learned, and highest level of parental education: Selected years, 2017 through 2021
Sex, race/ethnicity, first language learned, and highest level of parental education 2017 2019 2020 2021
Seniors who had taken the SAT Mean score1 Seniors who had taken the SAT Mean score1 Seniors who had taken the SAT Mean score1 Seniors who had taken the SAT Mean score1
Number
(in thousands)
Percentage distri- bution Total SAT score Evidence-based reading and writing (ERW) Math Number
(in thousands)
Percentage distri- bution Total SAT score Evidence-based reading and writing (ERW) Math Number
(in thousands)
Percentage distri- bution Total SAT score Evidence-based reading and writing (ERW) Math Number
(in thousands)
Percentage distri- bution Total SAT score Evidence-based reading and writing (ERW) Math
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
All students 1,715 100.0 1060 533 527 2,220 100.0 1059 531 528 2,198 100.0 1051 528 523 1,509 100.0 1060 533 528
Sex                                        
Male 809 47.2 1070 532 538 1,062 47.8 1066 529 537 1,052 47.9 1055 523 531 732 48.5 1067 530 537
Female 906 52.8 1050 534 516 1,157 52.1 1053 534 519 1,145 52.1 1048 532 516 775 51.3 1054 535 519

Race/ethnicity
                                       
White 760 44.3 1118 565 553 948 42.7 1114 562 553 910 41.4 1104 557 547 635 42.1 1112 562 550
Black 226 13.2 941 479 462 271 12.2 933 476 457 261 11.9 927 473 454 168 11.2 934 477 457
Hispanic 408 23.8 990 500 489 555 25.0 978 495 483 569 25.9 969 491 478 352 23.3 967 490 477
Asian 158 9.2 1181 569 612 229 10.3 1223 586 637 223 10.2 1217 585 632 167 11.1 1239 597 642
Pacific Islander 4 0.2 986 498 488 5 # 964 487 478 5 0.2 948 478 470 3 0.2 950 481 469
American Indian/
    Alaska Native
8 0.5 963 486 477 13 0.6 912 461 451 14 0.6 902 456 447 10 0.7 927 468 459
Two or more races 57 3.3 1103 560 544 87 3.9 1095 554 540 90 4.1 1091 552 539 55 3.6 1116 565 551
No response 94 5.5 961 475 485 112 5.1 959 472 487 126 5.7 996 488 507 118 7.8 976 483 493

First language learned
                                       
English only 1,139 66.4 1074 545 530 1,400 63.1 1074 543 530 1,363 62.0 1066 539 526 903 59.9 1078 547 532
English and another
    language
319 18.6 1034 516 518 440 19.8 1047 521 526 472 21.5 1041 519 522 312 20.7 1058 526 531
Another language 203 11.8 1049 513 537 269 12.1 1057 515 543 252 11.5 1055 514 541 167 11.1 1072 521 551
No response 54 3.2 941 463 479 111 5.0 925 460 465 112 5.1 910 453 457 127 8.4 924 462 461

Highest level of parental
    education
                                       
No high school diploma 137 8.0 944 472 472 199 8.9 926 464 462 198 9.0 919 461 458 111 7.4 917 459 458
High school diploma 482 28.1 1003 507 497 608 27.4 989 500 490 588 26.8 981 495 485 348 23.1 981 496 485
Associate's degree 134 7.8 1036 525 511 160 7.2 1027 519 508 149 6.8 1019 516 503 88 5.8 1021 518 504
Bachelor's degree 473 27.6 1118 562 556 621 28.0 1121 561 560 625 28.4 1114 558 556 440 29.2 1120 562 559
Graduate degree 340 19.8 1177 591 586 461 20.8 1194 596 598 463 21.0 1186 592 594 354 23.4 1198 599 600
No response 149 8.7 914 455 460 172 7.7 902 450 452 175 8.0 883 443 440 168 11.1 892 450 442
#Rounds to zero.
1 Possible scores on each SAT section range from 200 to 800, for a total possible score of 400 to 1600.
NOTE: The SAT was completely redesigned in 2016. The new SAT was first administered in March of 2016. This table reflects 2017 through 2021 high school graduates who took the new SAT during high school. These data do not factor in performance on the old SAT, and the data for 2017 set a new baseline for future year-to-year comparisons. If a student took the new SAT more than once, the most recent score on each section is used, along with the student's most recent responses to the SAT questionnaire. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: College Entrance Examination Board, SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report: Total Group, 2017 through 2021, retrieved October 25, 2021, from https://reports.collegeboard.org/pdf/2021-total-group-sat-suite-assessments-annual-report.pdf. (This table was prepared October 2021.)

2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest