Number of Students Earning College Admissions without Remediation Grows by More Than 5,200 since 2012
BATON ROUGE, La. - The Department of Education today announced that for the second consecutive year the number of high school seniors earning a score of 18 or higher on the ACT increased, leading to more graduates entering college without needing to take remedial courses. The class of 2014 saw 23,560 students post a college-going score, an increase of 1,472 students from 2013 and an increase of 5,253 since 2012.
Furthermore, the number of students earning qualifying scores for TOPS Tech (17+), TOPS Opportunity (20+), and TOPS Honors (27+) grew at every level, boosting both students on the TOPS University pathway and students on the Jump Start TOPS Tech pathway. The number of students earning a TOPS-qualifying score of at least 17 increased by 1,732 since 2013 and has grown by 6,339 since 2012.
| Opportunity | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | Increase from 2012 to 2014 |
| TOPS Tech (17+) | 20,466 | 25,073 | 26,805 | 6,339 |
| TOPS Opportunity & Regional University (20+) | 14,129 | 16,027 | 16,935 | 2,806 |
| TOPS Performance & Statewide University (23+) | 7,429 | 8,433 | 8,834 | 1,405 |
| Flagship University (25+) | 4,296 | 5,006 | 5,301 | 1,005 |
| TOPS Honors (27+) | 2,435 | 2,938 | 3,116 | 681 |
"These results demonstrate what can happen when we maintain high expectations and open the doors of opportunity to young men and women," said State Superintendent John White. "These scores represent real life opportunity for graduates. Whether graduates attend four-year universities, two-year colleges, or workforce preparation programs, no one can ever take away these college-going scores."
During the 2012-2013 school year, Louisiana became the 10th state to provide all high school students the opportunity to take the ACT at no charge. The ACT testing series is administered to students in 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th grades to provide parents and students information on college and career readiness. The ACT series is a pillar of Louisiana Believes, the state's plan to ensure all students are on track to succeed in college or a professional career.
The continued increases our high school students are realizing translate to thousands of additional students qualify for TOPS Performance, TOPS Opportunity, and TOPS Tech, as well as meeting minimum ACT entry and remediation requirements for Louisiana's system of universities and community and technical colleges.
In the weeks to come, school districts and charter schools will be provided aggregate, preliminary school- and district-level results for use at their discretion and the Department will post preliminary results. Later this summer and early fall, the Department will coordinate with the ACT on statewide average performance. Additionally, districts will complete validation of ACT performance for inclusion in the school performance score.
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