In some central Ohio school districts, over 90% of students who take a college entrance exam get a score that could require remedial courses in college.
The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce works with Ohio universities to set the remediation-free scores for the ACT and SAT, which are the scores universities generally expect that students who earn them will be able to succeed in their college courses. The scores also serve as an alternative demonstration of competency for high school graduation.
A remediation-free score for the ACT is a 22 on math, 18 on English and 22 on reading, according to the ODEW. The highest possible score on an ACT is 36. For the SAT, a remediation-free score for reading and writing is 480 and 530 in math. The highest possible score is 800
in both categories for a combined 1,600 points.
According to the ACT, the average overall score in Ohio is a 19, with 46% of students meeting the reading benchmark and 26% meeting the math benchmark. According to the Princeton Review, the average composite SAT score for Ohio is 1030.
The 2025-2026 state average for remediation-free scores is 17.6%, according to ODEW data.
As a part of the ODEW state report cards, the state tracks how many students receive remediation-free scores in school districts as a part of the College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness component.
Aaron Churchill, lead Ohio researcher for conservative think tank the Fordham Institute, said the ACT and SAT scores are tied to the likelihood of success in freshmen year college coursework.
"These scores are important in the sense that it shows just how many students are actually ready to take the next step into college as opposed to marginally ready or going to have to do some kind of remedial coursework," Churchill said.
He added that the benchmarks are "pretty rigorous" and that even some of the state's highest rated schools don't have exceedingly high scores, which he said matched up with college completion rates. Districts that have single digit remediation-free scores, he said, demonstrate a "significant problem" with the district's ability to prepare students for college.
"It is more of an honest picture of where students are in terms of their actual likelihood of success of not just going to college, but actually completing a degree, which at the end of the day is what really matters when it comes to higher education," Churchill said. "It's one thing to get into college, but if you drop out, that's not very helpful."
Which school districts in central Ohio have the most students with remediation-free scores in 2025-2026?
Which central Ohio districts have the highest remediation-free score?
- New Albany-Plain Local Schools - 64.5%
- Upper Arlington City Schools - 62.1%
- Bexley City Schools - 60.5%
- Dublin City Schools - 55.2%
- Olentangy Local Schools - 52.6%
- Granville Exempted Village Schools - 48.3%
- Gahanna-Jefferson City Schools - 45.8%
- Hilliard City Schools - 37.9%
- Buckeye Valley Local Schools - 36.3%
- Worthington City Schools - 33.7%
- Fairbanks Local Schools - 33%
- Westerville City Schools - 32.4%
- Marysville Exempted Village Schools - 29.7%
- Pickerington Local Schools - 26.6%
- Jonathan Alder Local Schools - 24.5%
- Delaware City Schools - 23.8%
- Big Walnut Local Schools - 22.1%
- North Union Local Schools - 20.8%
- Bloom-Carroll Local Schools - 18.8%
- Southwest Licking Local - 18.1%
- South Western City Schools - 18%
- Johnstown-Monroe Local Schools - 16.5%
- Jefferson Local Schools - 16%
- Teays Valley Local Schools - 14.8%
- Canal Winchester Local Schools - 14.1%
- London City Schools - 13.1%
- Hamilton Local Schools - 12%
- Heath City schools - 11.5%
- Newark City Schools - 8.8%
- Lancaster City Schools - 6.4%
- Columbus City Schools - 6%
- Reynoldsburg City Schools - 5.2%
- Groveport Madison Local Schools - 4.8%
- Whitehall City Schools - 4.6%
- Madison-Plains Local Schools - 4%
Cole Behrens covers K-12 education and school districts in central Ohio. Have a tip? Contact Cole at cbehrens@dispatch.com or connect with him on X at @Colebehr_report
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Which central Ohio districts get the best ACT and SAT results?
