Students in Mississippi and across the country will soon take a shorter college admissions exam after ACT CEO Janet Godwin announced changes to the test following the ACT’s Enrollment Management Summit. The test with shorter passages, less questions and more flexibility could mean a better testing experience for students.
“I think that ACT has a palatable test and now they’re going to give kids more time on it,” Retired Rankin County Schools College and Career Prep Specialist Montgomery Hinton told the Mississippi Free Press on Aug. 16. “I think for kids who are stressed over the time, or just the pure volume of how much is on the test, it’s going to be a lot a lot better for them.”
Beginning with the national April 2025 online admission, students will see fewer questions on the exam, with the total number reduced from 215 to 171. The test will also have shorter passages on the reading and English sections. However, students will have the same amount of time on each section, giving test-takers more time per question. The new core test—which will include English, reading and math—will last just two hours compared to three hours on the current test. The company hopes the changes will reduce test-taking fatigue.
The science section will be optional and students who choose to take the section will receive a standalone score. Test-takers will only receive the STEM score that combines the math and science sections if they take the Science section of the test. The test already includes an optional writing section.
“English, reading, and math remain as the core sections of the ACT test that will result in a college-reportable score,” ACT CEO Janet Godwin said in a July 15 press release. “Like the writing section, science will be offered as an additional section. This means students can choose to take the ACT, the ACT plus science, the ACT plus writing, or the ACT plus science and writing. With this flexibility, students can focus on their strengths and showcase their abilities in the best possible way.”
The changes do not affect students who will graduate or take the school-day test this school year.
“A student is going to have to intentionally sign up between April of 2025 and September of 2025 to take this (new version) and they have to take it online,” Hinton said. Students will take the online tests at proctor locations.
‘Fundamentally Different Exams’
The changes come as Mississippi legislators consider eliminating the state’s end-of-the-year tests for a nationally recognized exam such as the ACT. A bill introduced during the 2024 legislative session died in conference. Mississippi’s ACT composite average for the graduating class of 2023 was 17.6 out of 36 compared to the national ACT average of 19.5. The state had one of the lowest composite-score averages in the country. Godwin said in an Oct 10, 2023, press release that scores had declined nationally for the past six years.
Mississippi is one of 13 states that mandate the ACT. Schools that give the test during the day will see the changes in Spring 2026.
Hinton said that although the current format is already offered online, those testing locations are not widely available in the state. With the new version only being available online for the first several administrations, students may have difficulty locating available seats to take it.
The new test will be released in phases. At one point, both versions of the exam will be available, the shortened online version and the longer paper/pencil version. Hinton said that during the transition, students who take the online version that includes only English, math and reading will receive a composite score from only those three exams. However, students who take the version that does not allow students to opt out of the science test will receive a composite score based on all four sections. He would not speculate on how the changes could affect composite scores but noted that any change could be significant.
“If scores do go down, then someone is suffering,” Hinton said. “And if scores go up, are we able to sustain that, or do colleges just shift their scale higher?”
An article published by Inside Higher Education questioned the comparability of the scores. The piece stated that during the transition, admissions offices will have to evaluate ACT scores from two “fundamentally different exams as the company’s own press release put it.” Godwin told the publication that the company completed research and that the scores are comparable. The company did not release that research to Inside Higher Ed.
University of Southern Mississippi Director of Enrollment Operations DJ Preiss said university officials have been told the max score will not change on the shortened test.
“They’re saying the overall max score is still a 36 and they’re saying that if a student opts not to take the science part, then the other components would just be weighted differently to still have a score that’s representative of their aptitude on that test,” Preiss told the Mississippi Free Press on August 22.
Mississippi’s Institutions of Higher Learning sets the admission standards for all public four-year colleges in the state. Preiss does not believe they will make any immediate enrollment or scholarship changes as a result of the new exam.
“From the standpoint of how we have our systems built, their test results are going to get logged in the same way no matter which part version of the ACT they take,” Preiss said. “And so we have not had to do any adjustments to how we’re going to accept the scores. Until we can get some more information from them, we don’t see a reason that we need to shift. We all still feel very confident in it not negatively impacting and affecting students from an admissibility standpoint, or being able to enroll in courses that they need to take or are interested in taking once they come to Southern Miss.”
Preiss has proctored the ACT and watched students rush to answer every question as time winds down. He said that the shortened test could help college-bound students feel more confident going into that standardized test.
“So many of our students across the country, even our state, just have test anxiety on (the ACT) because they feel like so much rides on that test. And you know it is a component that we look at for admissions,” Preiss said.
Hinton operates Preparing For Success, LLC, which prepares students for assessments such as the ACT, SAT and PSAT. He agreed the shorter test could be a positive for testers who are good students but do not manage their time on the test well.
“What I would say to my upcoming students is they’re going to get more time to analyze and answer,” Hinton said. “And for most kids that I have, time management is their issue. It’s not always that (they) don’t know how to do it.”
Changes Already Underway
Janet Godwin, the ACT CEO, said modifying the exam keeps the company in line with the changing educational landscape.
“I’m thrilled about the future and the opportunities that lie ahead for us and those we serve,” Godwin said in the press release on July 15. “Our unwavering commitment to meeting the evolving needs of students and educators drives us forward. These enhancements are just the beginning, and we are eager to continue revolutionizing how we prepare learners for future challenges and opportunities.”
The ACT has already made several changes to its program. In 2006, the ACT began school-day testing. Beginning in September 2016, the exam began calculating a superscore, the average of the best scores from each subject from multiple test attempts for students who took the ACT more than once. The exam company began offering online testing options at select locations nationwide in February of this year.
“These changes to the ACT test reflect our commitment to continually evolving to meet the needs of learners and underscore our legacy of innovation that has been at the core of ACT’s mission since 1959,” Godwin said.
The test itself has not changed much in the decades since the reading and science sections were added in 1989. The new changes also follow a similar move by the College Board earlier this year. The non-profit administers the SAT, a college admissions exam similar to the ACT. The College Board shortened the test by a third and moved to a completely digital admission. Unlike the ACT, the SAT allows a calculator now for all math sections and students may use their computer. Hinton said the ACT’s changes seem to result from an upswing in SAT test-takers.
“I think it was directly driven from the fact that the SAT has many more people taking their tests than the ACT,” Hinton said. “It’s kind of like McDonald’s all of a sudden decides to change its hamburger and Wendy’s doesn’t. And every time you go by McDonald’s, the drive-thru is packed but every time you go by Wendy’s, the drive-thru is vacant.”
Preiss said universities across the state are staying aware of the changes and communicating with the Mississippi Department of Education to ensure that students are knowledgeable about admissions and scholarship requirements.
“I think that our institutions of higher learning, our State College Board, does a great job communicating changes like this across the state to the public universities,” he said. “And there’s actually also a person who works for IHL that is a liaison to MDE, so they have been in touch too and trying to just help keep each other informed of these changes that are coming down the pipe. I feel blessed that we have a system in the State of Mississippi that is student-centered, and I think there’s great collaboration between our State College Board, our Mississippi Community College Board, and the Mississippi Department of Education to really all be on the same page.”
