Meta-Analysis of the Predictive Validity of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) Scores for College GPA

The college admission systems of the United States require the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) examinations. Although, some resources suggest that SAT and ACT scores give some meaningful information about academic success, others disagree. The objective of this study was to determine whether there is significant predictive validity of SAT and ACT exams for college success. This study examined the effectiveness of SAT and ACT scores for predicting college students’ first year GPA scores with a meta-analytic approach. Most of the studies were retrieved from Academic Search Complete and ERIC databases, published between 1990 and 2016. In total, 60 effect sizes were obtained from 48 studies. The average correlation between test score and college GPA was 0.36 (95% confidence interval: .32, .39) using a random effects model. There was a significant positive relationship between exam score and college success. Moderators examined were publication status and exam type with no effect found for publication status. A significant effect of exam type was found, with a slightly higher average correlation for SAT compared to ACT score and college GPA. No publication bias was found in the study.

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