ACT’s Push for Use of a “Superscore” Composite– Which Still Underestimates College Freshman GPA

ACT is promoting “superscoring,” which involves creating a composite score based upon the highest scores of individual subtests across multiple testing sessions.

On August 15, 2019, ACT released a statement about superscoring and how, beginning September 2020, ACT will include a superscore on ACT scoring reports.

Before we get into some details regarding the studies behind ACT’s decision to include superscores on student score reports, let us consider ACT’s statement about how use of a superscore (as opposed to a traditional composite score) is left up to colleges and universities:

…We empirically evaluated the validity and fairness of different score-use policies. Based on the findings, ACT now supports the use of superscoring in making college admissions decisions. And starting in September 2020, ACT will be automatically calculating the superscore for students.

That said, we believe that individual postsecondary institutions should decide which score-use policy is best for them, as…