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With Mandate, Thousands More Take College Entrance Exam

11,000 more students who graduated from Louisiana public high schools this year took the ACT, compared to the class of 2012.

About a third of those did well enough to enter college without having to take remedial courses and well enough to get TOPS tuition scholarships.

Sen. Conrad Appel, who supported a policy mandating the ACT, said Wednesday it will lead to opportunities for better employment and help break the cycle of poverty.

“3,600 kids in Louisiana for the first time recognize that the only obstacle to their success was in their own head," he said.

Most of the students Appel is referring to scored just well enough on the ACT to contribute to their schools’ performance scores, but far below what they’d need to get a scholarship to LSU.

The $2 million to pay for the administration of the college entrance exam statewide comes out of the Dept. of Education budget.

Copyright 2021 WRKF. To see more, visit .

Amy Jeffries
Amy started her career in public radio at WNPR in Hartford, CT more than a decade ago. NPR flew her in to Baton Rouge to help WRKF cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina while she was still based in the North. Here she found her journalistic calling.

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