Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 22, 2020 Rural Students and Students of Color Report Gaps in Availability of Mental Health Support ACT Releases New Report with Recommendations to Improve Mental Health Access IOWA CITY, Iowa—Roughly one in four American adolescents experience mental health challenges, yet new survey data show that rural students and students of color have more difficulty accessing help when compared to suburban and white students. According to “Supporting the Mental Health Well-Being of High School Students,” a new report from ACT focusing on the results of a 2019 survey of ACT test-takers, students of color were less likely than white students to say that they could reach out to a teacher or counselor if they needed mental health support (48% of African American students compared to 57% of white students).

IOWA CITY, Iowa — ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning and Boys & Girls Clubs of America are proud to announce a partnership that aims to help more students from underserved populations go to college by directly providing fee waivers for the ACT® test to eligible students from low-income families. The ACT measures what students have learned in school to determine their academic readiness for college.

IOWA CITY, Iowa—Tina Gridiron, a leader in higher education and philanthropy, will join ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning as vice president of philanthropic partnerships. Gridiron will cultivate and secure external philanthropic partners to help the Center close gaps in equity, opportunity and achievement for learners from underserved backgrounds.

IOWA CITY, Iowa—More than 8,000 U.S. high schools and nearly 600,000 students around the country will seek to boost college enrollment today (Friday, Sept. 20) as the American College Application Campaign (ACAC) holds #WhyApply Day. The day will kick off a season of activities designed to encourage more students—particularly those who are from underserved populations—to apply to college.

IOWA CITY, Iowa—As students head back to school, ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning and Univision Communications Inc., the leading Hispanic media company in the U.S., are issuing recommendations to help overcome higher education challenges Hispanic students face. The recommendations are found in the joint ACT-Univision report, Breaking Down Barriers: Understanding Hispanic High School Students’ Perceptions on the Transition to College.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 4, 2019 ACT research suggests student input is important to consider when making decisions about school safety measures IOWA CITY, Iowa—The large majority of U.S. high school students feel safe in school, but many see a need for more mental health services for students, according to a new report from ACT, the nonprofit organization behind the ACT® test.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — June 26, 2019 — There is one unifying characteristic among college-bound high school students, no matter their economic background: They consider the price of college to be a very important factor in their decision-making, even those whose families are paying for their education and aren’t eligible for financial aid.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 16, 2019 New Schools Venture Fund grant is a recognition of ACT’s innovative work in the area of social and emotional learning designed to help students succeed in and out of school. IOWA CITY, Iowa—ACT announced today that NewSchools Venture Fund, a national nonprofit that invests in educators and innovators who want to reimagine learning, has awarded the nonprofit learning, measurement and navigation organization a grant to advance its work on social and emotional skills. The grant, which is typically awarded to early-stage innovators and educators, rather than established organizations such as ACT, will support further development of ACT Tessera, a social and emotional skills measurement program, including the ability to conduct critical research among underserved learners. Funding will also provide a real world application to demonstrate the efficacy of the ACT Tessera Teacher Playbook for improving social and emotional skills.

IOWA CITY, Iowa, Feb. 13, 2019 – High school students in rural parts of the U.S. face significant challenges accessing technology that may adversely affect their learning — access that students in more populated parts of the country and policymakers may take for granted, according to surveys of students who took the national ACT® test.

January 23, 2019-IOWA CITY, Iowa—ACT, the nonprofit learning, measurement and navigation organization behind the ACT® test, announced today it has acquired the American College Application Campaign® (ACAC) from the American Council on Education® (ACE®). ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning, which focuses on closing gaps in equity, opportunity and achievement for underserved populations and working learners, will oversee and continue to expand the campaign.