Minnesota's public school students are among the most successful in the nation. How successful? Take a look at the measures below.

ACT scores are among the highest

• Minnesota's average composite score of 22.5 was the highest in the nation on the ACT college entrance exam among the 26 states in which more than half the college-bound students took the test, in 2007.
• Minnesota students' average score of 22.5 remains above the national average ACT score of 21.2.
• Seventy percent of Minnesota high school seniors took the ACT in 2007.

NAEP scores are at or near the top

Minnesota students' scores on the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress are among the best in the nation:

• Eighth-graders tied for first on the percentage of math students at or above the proficient level. They were second nationally for their average score.
• Fourth-graders tied for second with two states on average math score and percentage of students at or above the proficient level.
• Fourth- and eighth-graders were fourth nationwide on average reading score, but tied for first on the percentage of students at or above the proficient level.
• According to a December 2005 report from Standard & Poor's, Minnesota fourth- and eighth-graders consistently outperformed statistical expectations in math at the proficient level on the 2003 and 2005 NAEP when student poverty is taken into account.

College prep strong

• A report by Minnesota State Colleges and Universities found that about 20 percent of Minnesota high school seniors earn college credits before graduation, according to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education . Five percent of high school grads in 2003 had enough advanced credits to enter college as a sophomore or higher.
• Sixty-five percent of high school graduates in 2003 went on to attend a postsecondary institution, an increase of 9 percent from 10 years ago, according to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education .
• Minnesota is one of the top two states in the percentage of high school graduates enrolling in college by age 19, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education . The center ranks Minnesota as one of the top nine states in the gains made over the last decade in students attending college.
• The number of students taking an Advanced Placement exam increased 19 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education , from 18,902 to 22,469. Those students took 35,821 exams in 2006, an increase of more than 22 percent.
• The number of exams taken increased 22 percent from 29,480 in 2005 to 32,821 in 2006
• AP exam grades of 3 to 5 were achieved on 23,220 exams; an increase of 18 percent from the previous year when 67 percent of Minnesota students scored a three or higher according to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education.
• Higher percentages of Minnesota test takers were more college-ready for English, social science, algebra and biology than students nationally, according to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education .

High school, college degrees common

• In 2003, 92 percent of Minnesotans 25 and older had a high school degree, the highest rate in the nation, tied with New Hampshire and Wyoming, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• Minnesota students are more likely to graduate from high school in four years than most of their peers nationwide. Based on estimates from the U.S. Education Department , Minnesota had the sixth-highest high school graduation rate in 2002-03.
• Minnesota is among the top five states in the percentage of entering ninth-graders who graduate from high school, according to “Education State Rankings 2004-2005: Pre K-12 Education in the 50 United States” published by Morgan Quitno Press .
• Minnesota ranks eighth at 79 percent of public high school students who graduate with a diploma according to Education Week's 2006 "Quality Counts" report.
• Minnesota ranks seventh at 43.9 percent adults ages 25 to 64 with a 2- or 4-year postsecondary degree according to Education Week's 2006 "Quality Counts" report.
• Minnesota also ranks seventh at 54.9 percent of young adults enrolled in postsecondary education or with a degree.