(Radio Iowa) – A-C-T scores among Iowa high school students who took the test dropped slightly from a year ago and far fewer students are taking the test.

The average A-C-T composite score for seniors who graduated from an Iowa high school last spring was 20-point-eight. That compares to a score of 22 for the 2014 graduating class in Iowa. Nine years ago, 68 percent of high school seniors in Iowa took the A-C-T. Just under half took it this past year.

Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I no longer require students applying for admission to take the A-C-T.