SAT Report: 77% of Latinos Not Ready for College

(AP)

Sophomores in Jennifer Litzen's world literature class at Northern Durham High School use laptops from the school's mobile computer lab for a class project Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2003, in Durham, N.C. The school has a wireless mobile computer lab which brings laptops to classrooms so students can learn to use multi-media applications and use the internet. (AP Photo/Jeffrey A. Camarati) (AP)

Less than 3 out of 10 Latino high school seniors who took the SAT exams in 2012 are ready for college, the college board announced in a new report Monday.

Of the 272,633 Latino students who took the standardized test, only 23 percent met the SAT benchmark score of 1550, which shows a "level of academic preparedness associated with a high likelihood of college success."

To put it another way, according to the college board, more than 7 out of 10 Latinos who took the SAT are not adequately academically prepared for college success.

College board research suggests a 1550 score out of 2400 indicates a 65 percent likelihood of achieving a B- average or higher during the first year of college.

The 23 percent of Latinos ready for college is dramatically lower than the general population. Of the more than 1.6 million total high school seniors, the most ever, that took the SAT in 2012, 43 percent were deemed college ready based on their SAT scores.

"When less than half of kids who want to go to college are prepared to do so, that system is failing," said College Board President Gaston Caperton in a statement released with the data. "We must make education a national priority and deliver rigor to more students."

The report did, however, shed light on positive news for the Latino community.

Latinos made up the largest group of first generation college goers in 2012. According to the report, 62 percent of Latino SAT takers are the first in their families to go to college.

In total, 45 percent of students who took the SAT were minority students.

A further look into the numbers shows that Latinos that complete a core curriculum and enroll in honors and/or Advanced Placement courses score better on the exam.

About 1 in 3 Latino students who took the SAT had taken an AP Honors Math (31%), English (39%) or Natural Science (28%) course.

Overall, the average GPA of a Latino student in High School is 3.22. That is second to last, above African American students who averaged a 3.05 but behind the Asian population which averaged a 3.52 GPA in 2012.