May 19, 2026, 5:03 a.m. CT
High school students in Wisconsin and nationwide may see changes to their ACT scores after the testing company discovered a scoring issue with this spring’s exam.
On May 13, the company notified school district test coordinators that it would remove or reissue scores for students who took the online ACT during school-day testing this spring. Students’ composite and section scores will either remain the same or go up slightly based on their individual performance, the email said.
Students attending Milwaukee Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, may be among those affected, according to MPS spokesperson Anthony Tagliavia. The district notified students and families of the issue in an email May 18.
ACT said it removed affected students’ scores from their MyACT profiles on May 13 and would update them by June 2. ACT will also resend the new scores to any colleges, universities and scholarship organizations students selected.
Revised scores will not be lower than what was previously released, the organization said.
In a letter to the company’s CEO, state Superintendent Jill Underly said the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction plans “to begin the process of engaging contract penalties to offset the hardship your scoring issues have caused,” though she did not elaborate on what the penalties might entail.
Underly said she had “extreme disappointment with this year’s administration of the statewide ACT exam for Wisconsin students.”
The scoring issue follows ACT’s decision to remove the science portion of the standardized college admissions test from its core composite score calculation. The change, which made the science section optional for students, took effect for online testing last year and school-day testing this spring.
“While we have not yet seen individual, school, or district results, we continue to hear from local education leaders that the confluence of these decisions is causing Wisconsin’s scores to decline in a seemingly arbitrary and inconsistent fashion,” Underly said.
The Universities of Wisconsin system no longer requires ACT or SAT scores for admission, but Underly said students still rely on the exams for college applications and financial awards. Wisconsin also uses ACT results in state and federal school accountability systems and to measure students’ college readiness.
State law requires all Wisconsin students in 11th grade to take the ACT. More than 92% of eligible students, or nearly 59,000 high schoolers, took the ACT in Wisconsin last school year, according to the most recent state data.
“I cannot overstate the impact these decisions are having on schools, students, and communities across our state,” Underly said. “Just as concerning is the way in which these changes were implemented, which has created confusion and frustration.”
ACT spokesperson Juan Elizondo told The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the majority of affected students nationwide are juniors or younger.
Elizondo said the issue stemmed from a problem with the scoring process. According to ACT, the estimated changes may include:
Kayla Huynh covers K-12 education, teachers and solutions for the Journal Sentinel. Contact: khuynh@gannett.com. Follow her on X: @_kaylahuynh.
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