By Charlie Tyson. More students than ever are taking the ACT, says the ACT’s annual score report, released today. A record 1.84 million high school students who graduated in 2014 took the college readiness test – suggesting that more young people have college in their sights. But for many test-takers, succeeding in postsecondary education might be an empty hope. Average scores remain stagnant. Only 39 percent of test-takers met three or more of the ACT’s college readiness benchmarks in English, math, reading and science – a percentage that’s unchanged from last year. And striking racial gaps persist. Read more...

By Charlie Tyson. A new analysis from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences confirms a common fear: humanities majors and STEM majors dwell in separate academic silos. STEM majors, especially engineering students, take few humanities courses, the data show. And humanities majors take even fewer STEM courses. Read more...