Georgia public school students ahead of their peers nationwide on SAT scores

Georgia’s public school students who graduated this spring scored better than public school students nationwide on the SAT, the exam many colleges use to gauge potential academic performance.

The mean score for the Peach State’s public school students was higher than the national average for the ninth year in a row, Georgia Department of Education officials said in a news release Tuesday. No data was available Tuesday for each school or district.

The data was released a day after Georgia announced its public high school graduation rate for the class of 2026 was a record high 88.5%.

Here are some takeaways from the results:

How did Georgia students do?

Georgia’s class of 2026 recorded a mean score of 1031, 20 points higher than the national mean for public school students of 1011, state officials said. Georgia students’ mean score increased by two points from 2025. The highest score a student can get on the SAT is 1600.

Georgia’s mean score for all students, which includes private and homeschooled students, was 1041, ranking 34th nationally. Most states with higher mean scores had a smaller percentage of SAT test-takers.

Better scores on reading and writing

The class of 2026 recorded a mean score of 525 on the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing portion of the assessment and a mean score of 506 on the math portion. That’s compared to averages of 515 and 496, respectively, for students in the nation’s public schools, state officials said.

High participation rate

About 60% of Georgia students took the SAT, which again is about the national average.

Economic and educational gaps

The mean score was higher for Georgia students whose parents had higher levels of education and families who live in wealthier neighborhoods. It was 1129 for public school students whose parents had a master’s degree. The mean score was 1160 for public school students who live in communities with an average household income greater than $131,210.