The average composite ACT of this year’s entering freshman class was 24.1, the highest in the university’s history.
Though Ohio University broke a record for its freshman class ACT scores this year, it still falls behind other public universities in Ohio when it comes to test scores.
The average composite ACT of this year’s entering freshman class was 24.1, the highest in the university’s history, according to data from Senior Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment Management Craig Cornell.
That score is up from five years ago, when the university’s average was 23.6. That year, the average ACT score for Ohio students was 22, according to the testing organization’s website.
Compared to Miami University, Ohio State University and University of Cincinnati, OU consistently had the lowest ACT score for the past eight years, based on data from Columbus Business First.
This year, Miami’s average ACT score was 28. Ohio State’s was 28.9, and Cincinnati’s was 25.7.
Cornell said the university does not see lower test scores as a problem.
“We are not in the strategy of growing our ACT composite scores significantly, as we want to provide educational opportunities to all students we know can be successful here,” Cornell said in an email.
Cornell said in an email OU has a “twin mission” of student access and success.
This year’s freshman class also broke another record for its average high school GPAs, according to a university news release. This year’s average was 3.46, which is up from 3.43 last year.
Cornell said in an email the university has the third highest six-year graduation rate in the state.
“Students succeed for reasons that are not only about their test score,” he said in an email. “We have a transformative educational opportunity promise to students and that commitment, aligned with exceptional academics and deeply caring faculty and staff.”
Improving test scores is ultimately not the university's goal, Cornell said in an email.
“We have record application numbers and work diligently to find potential students throughout Ohio, the region, nation and globally who will be successful here," he said in an email.
Hayley Swartz, a senior studying education, said she doesn’t believe test scores are as important as other factors universities consider when admitting students.
“I don’t put a lot of value on test scores,” Swartz said. “It’s not a representation of someone’s education.”
Swartz said, as an education major, she’s encountered many students who are intelligent yet don’t perform well on standardized tests.
Ashley Perry, a senior studying education, agreed ACT scores are not always indicative of a student's potential.
Perry said she transferred to OU’s Lancaster campus to save money before transferring back to the Athens campus. During her transfer, she noticed the regional campus accepted lower test scores than than the main one.
“It’s kind of an arbitrary system,” she said.
Andy Caillet, a freshman studying biology, said he appreciates that OU doesn’t make test scores its top priority.
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“I feel like being a slightly less exclusive school is part of what makes OU such a friendly campus,” Caillet said. “People are less worried about competing to get the best scores here.”
Caillet said personal effort from students is a better indicator of success than the year’s ACT record.
“It's something our class can be proud of, and it's a nice statistic, but there's still a lot between now and graduation,” he said.
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