Every year, colleges and universities make critical decisions about recruitment, enrollment strategy, student support, academic preparedness, and resource allocation. Yet many institutions already have access to a powerful source of information that can help guide those decisions, and they may not even realize it.
This June, ACT is providing personalized Higher Education Reports to more than 1,800 institutions nationwide at no cost. While many institutions have been familiar with receiving these reports through Encoura in late summer, ACT is bringing the process back in-house this year and accelerating delivery this month. Institutions received their reports in June, giving enrollment and student success teams valuable time to analyze data and apply insights ahead of the fall recruitment season.
This initiative from ACT’s higher education team represents more than a report distribution process; it's an opportunity to help institutions unlock the full value of data they already have access to and use it more strategically than ever before.
Why this data matters now
Higher education leaders are operating in an increasingly complex environment. Demographic shifts, changing student expectations, enrollment pressures, evolving academic preparedness levels, and growing demands for student support all require institutions to make informed decisions quickly.
The challenge isn't simply collecting more data; it's identifying actionable insights that can guide institutional strategy.
ACT's Higher Education Reports provide a unique profile of the most recent class of enrolled students, offering information that correlates to recruitment, admissions, academic readiness, student expectations, and enrollment trends. When combined with the latest statewide ACT-Tested Graduating Class data release, these reports can help institutions better understand both their incoming students and the broader landscape from which they are recruiting.
For institutions located in one of ACT's 23 statewide testing programs, the value becomes even greater. Together, institutional and statewide data can reveal emerging trends, highlight shifts in student behavior, and provide context for recruitment and student success planning.
"Throughout my career in enrollment leadership, I found that many institutions either weren't aware these reports were available to them or weren't fully leveraging the depth of insight they provide,” explains Kasey Urquidez, ACT’s senior director of higher education.
“These reports offer far more than a snapshot of who enrolled — they help institutions understand student characteristics, recruitment patterns, academic preparedness, and competitive dynamics in ways that can directly inform strategy. When institutions use this information strategically, especially alongside statewide graduate class data, they can better align their enrollment and student success efforts."
The reality is that these reports are often underutilized. ACT is committed to changing that by increasing awareness, sharing interpretation guidance, and helping institutions translate data into action over the coming year.
From data to decisions: How institutions can use these reports
The reports are designed to support a wide range of campus stakeholders, from enrollment managers and admissions leaders to academic affairs professionals and student success teams.
Strengthen recruitment and admissions strategies
The ACT Class Profile Report provides detailed information about students who sent ACT scores to an institution and ultimately enrolled. Enrollment teams can analyze demographic trends, GPA distributions, class rank data, ACT Composite scores, enrollment status, and other key indicators.
Institutions can also identify top-feeder high schools and gain insight into competitive institutions based on student score-sending behavior. These insights can help recruitment teams refine territory management, focus outreach efforts, and better understand competitive positioning.
Inform student success and support initiatives
Student success begins long before the first day of class. The reports include valuable information about students' educational aspirations, financial aid expectations, anticipated work commitments, extracurricular interests, and anticipated support needs.
These insights can help institutions proactively design advising, intervention, orientation, and support programs that align with the needs of incoming students.
Support academic planning and course placement
The reports also provide a detailed look at student academic preparation, including ACT score distributions, high school coursework patterns, and performance relative to ACT College Readiness Benchmarks.
Understanding where incoming students are — whether they are academically prepared or may need some additional support — can inform course placement practices, bridge programming, developmental education strategies, and academic support services.
ACT College Readiness Benchmarks indicate that students who meet benchmark levels have a 75% chance of earning a C or better or a 50% chance of earning a B or better in corresponding college coursework. This information provides valuable context for institutions seeking to evaluate remedial course placement and improve student outcomes and academic success.
Evaluate enrollment behaviors and score-sending trends
The ACT Score-Sending Report adds another perspective by comparing background characteristics, mean ACT Composite scores, and within-year retention for ACT-tested first-time fall enrollees who sent official score reports to an institution with those who did not.
This comparison helps institutions better understand student behavior, enrollment patterns, academic profiles, and retention outcomes. Such insights can be particularly valuable as institutions continue to evaluate recruitment effectiveness and enrollment strategies in an evolving admissions landscape.
Prepare for changes in ACT score reporting
Institutions will also receive the New ACT Composite Score and Superscore Report, which examines student performance using both the legacy Composite score calculation (EMRS) as a bonus report, and the new Composite score calculation (EMR).
By comparing score distributions across recent entering classes, institutions can better understand how the updated calculation methodology may affect score distributions and reporting within their own student populations. This analysis provides important context for admissions, scholarships, and placement discussions moving forward.
Expanding the conversation around data
These reports are the beginning of a broader conversation about institutional effectiveness and student success.
Over the coming year, ACT’s higher education team will provide additional resources, interpretation guidance, training opportunities, and strategic insights to help institutions maximize the value of these reports. The goal is not simply to deliver data, but to empower institutions to use that data in meaningful ways that support enrollment growth, student achievement, and institutional planning.
Ensuring your institution receives a report
ACT publishes these reports annually for eligible colleges and universities that meet two requirements:
- The institution submits enrollment data to the National Student Clearinghouse by November 1 of each graduate year.
- The institution enrolls at least 30 ACT score senders, based on matching data from the National Student Clearinghouse.
Partnering with ACT for student and institutional success
The higher education team at ACT is here to support all institutions’ success, providing direct access to ACT data, research, and training resources, along with opportunities for collaborative presentations and strategy development focused on student and institutional growth.
The work is designed to complement institutions’ existing partnerships with Encoura, providing an additional layer of support and a direct connection to ACT's higher education experts.
Any questions about the reports, support with data interpretation, or information about research and collaboration opportunities, institutions should contact the ACT higher education team at highered@act.org.
