ACT (test)

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ACT

Type	Paper-based and computer-based standardized test
Administrator	ACT, Inc.
Skills tested	English, math, reading, science (optional), writing (optional).
Purpose	Undergraduate admissions (mostly in the US and Canadian universities or colleges).
Year started	1959; 65 years ago (1959)
Duration	English: 45 minutes, Math: 60 minutes, Reading: 35 minutes, Science: 35 minutes, Non-Graded Test: 20 minutes, Optional writing test: 40 minutes. Total: 3 hours and 55 minutes (excluding breaks).[1]
Score range	Composite score: 1 to 36, Subscore (for each of the four subject areas): 1 to 36. (All in 1-point increments.)[2] Optional Writing Score: 2 to 12. (Sum of two graders’ scoring from 1-6)
Offered	US and Canada: 7 times a year.[3] Other countries: 5 times a year.[4]
Regions	Worldwide[5][6]
Languages	English
Annual number of test takers	Over 1.38 million high school graduates in the class of 2023[7]
Prerequisites	No official prerequisite. Intended for high school students. Fluency in English assumed.
Fee	Without writing: US$63.00 as of 2022[update]. With writing: US$88.00 as of 2022[update]. Outside US: $108.50 surcharge as of 2021[update] in addition to the above amounts.[8] (Fee waivers are available for 11th or 12th grade students who are US citizens or testing in the US or US territories, and have demonstrated financial need.[9])
Used by	Colleges or universities offering undergraduate programs (mostly in the US and Canada).
Website	www.act.org

The ACT (/eɪ siː tiː/; originally an abbreviation of American College Testing)^[10] is a standardized test used for college admissions in the United States. It is administered by ACT, Inc., a for-profit organization of the same name.^[10] The ACT test covers four academic skill areas: English, mathematics, reading, and scientific reasoning. It also offers an optional direct writing test. It is accepted by all four-year colleges and universities in the United States as well as more than 225 universities outside of the U.S.

The main four ACT test sections are individually scored on a scale of 1–36, and a composite score (the rounded whole number average of the four sections) is provided.^[11]

The ACT was first introduced in November 1959 by University of Iowa professor Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).^[12] The ACT originally consisted of four tests: English, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Natural Sciences. In 1989, however, the Social Studies test was changed into a Reading section (which included a social sciences subsection), and the Natural Sciences test was renamed the Science Reasoning test, with more emphasis on problem-solving skills as opposed to memorizing scientific facts.^[13] In February 2005, an optional Writing Test was added to the ACT. By the fall of 2017, computer-based ACT tests were available for school-day testing in limited school districts of the US, with greater availability expected in fall of 2018.^[14] In July 2024, the ACT announced that the test duration was shortened; the science section, like the writing one, would become optional; and online testing would be rolled out nationally in spring 2025 and for school-day testing in spring 2026.^[15]

The ACT has seen a gradual increase in the number of test takers since its inception, and in 2012 the ACT surpassed the SAT for the first time in total test takers; that year, 1,666,017 students took the ACT and 1,664,479 students took the SAT.^[16]