South Dakota’s ACT score declines but outperforms similar states and national average

South Dakota students’ average ACT score in 2025 is slightly lower than last year and is unimproved for a fifth straight year, but it remains higher than the national average.

The state Department of Education released results of the college readiness exam Wednesday. South Dakota students earned an average composite score of 21. The highest possible score on the ACT is 36.

South Dakota’s results continued a trend of lower scores since the state’s recent high of 21.9 in 2018. The state averaged 21.1 in each of 2023 and 2024. The minimum score for acceptance at the state’s public universities is 18.

“These numbers reflect what we know to be true – that South Dakota students who take the ACT are well-prepared to move on following their K-12 careers,” said Secretary of Education Joe Graves in a news release.

The national average composite score this year is 19.4, which is the same as last year and an eighth straight year of lower or unimproved scores after a peak score of 21 in 2017. 

Sixty percent of South Dakota’s high school graduates took the ACT this year, according to the department. Of students who indicated they want to attend college, 75% said they plan to attend higher education institutions in South Dakota. Forty-one percent of South Dakota test-takers met college readiness in three or four academic skill areas: English, mathematics, reading and science.

Comparing states based on their average ACT scores is difficult, because not all states require the test, and the percentage of students taking it in each state varies widely. The state will require all South Dakota juniors to take the test beginning this spring, replacing the state assessment test administered to high school juniors.

“Providing all public-school juniors the opportunity to demonstrate their readiness this spring is an exciting and important step. Having an ACT score in hand can open doors to opportunities students may never have considered before,” Graves added. “I look forward to seeing students who would not typically take the ACT realize what their future may hold.”

South Dakota will join nine other states that reported 100% of students taking the ACT. Among those states, the average score was 18.2.

South Dakota’s average score of 21 for the roughly 60% of students who took the test is better or equal to states with the most similar participation rates, according to the ACT. Missouri, with 70% participation, reported 19.8; Hawaii, with 68% participation, reported 17.5; Minnesota, with 68% participation, reported 20.6; and Iowa, with 41% participation, reported 21.