SAT scores rise for class of 2026 as participation falls
The mean SAT score for the class of 2026 increased 16 points to 1045. Participation fell 2.5% to 1.95 million students, the first decline since 2021.
The mean SAT score for the class of 2026 rose 16 points to 1045. The College Board, which released the results, hailed the increase as a sign of continued academic recovery. Scores improved in both the reading and writing and the math sections, with gains seen across all student demographic groups.
Readiness and equity improvements
About 42% of the class of 2026 who took the SAT met or exceeded college and career readiness benchmarks for both sections of the exam. More than 1.3 million students in the graduating class earned scores that aligned with or exceeded their high school GPA.
This was true for more than 82% of Black and Latino students, a figure up two points from the previous year. It also included almost 80% of first-generation students and over 81% of students from small towns and rural communities.
Participation dips but school-day testing grows
Overall participation fell slightly. About 1.95 million students in the class of 2026 took the SAT, a 2.5% dip from the class of 2025. This is the first decrease in participation since the pandemic-affected class of 2021, when only 1.5 million students tested.
Despite the overall decline, SAT School Day testing expanded. It accounted for 65% of all test-takers in this cohort, with participation increasing from the previous year in 42 states and the District of Columbia. More than 10,000 schools offered the SAT School Day during the 2025-26 school year.
Digital SAT shows no performance impact
The College Board transitioned to a shorter, digital SAT in 2024. The new format lasts just over two hours, compared to three hours for the former paper test. It allows students to use their own non-computer algebra-system calculator and features many shorter reading passages.
| Test Feature | Digital SAT (2024) | Previous Paper SAT |
|---|---|---|
| Test Duration | Just over 2 hours | 3 hours |
| Reading/Writing Passages | 54 passages, 25-150 words each | 9 passages, 400-750 words each |
A College Board research brief published in July found that the shorter reading passages did not meaningfully affect students' performance on the reading and writing questions.
Broader assessment trends and college policies
Trends in related assessments also shifted. Mean scores on the College Board's PSAT-related assessments for younger students increased slightly in the 2025-26 school year. This followed three consecutive years of declines. The PSAT/NMSQT is the sole qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship Program.
In the wider admissions landscape, the nonprofit group Fair Test states that 90% of U.S. Colleges remain test-optional for the high school class of 2027. This persists despite some top-ranked schools reinstating testing requirements after COVID-19 pauses.
The other major college admissions test, the ACT, plans to release its class of 2026 data next month, offering a comparative view of testing trends.
