College Board Study:
Predictive Validity of the SAT &
the Relationship with IUPUI
Admission Standards
Gary Pike, Ph.D.,
Executive Director, Information Management &
Institutional Research
Chris J. Foley
Director of Undergraduate Admissions
October 2013
Guiding Principles for Setting
Standards
• Consider the impact on the size and the composition of the
incoming class;
• Set standards that select students who have a reasonable
chance of success;
• Retain academic performance in high school as the primary
element;
• Use standardized test scores only in collaboration with
another predictor of success (e.g., academic performance
in high school);
– Supported by research on use of test scores in predicting
student success when used with other factors;
• Construct guidelines that would be easily communicated to
audiences to ensure transparency of decisions.
– Consider both internal and external audiences
Current Factors for Freshman
Admission Decisions
(from most to least important)
• Curricular Rigor
– Students with Academic Honors are admitted
regardless of GPA or test score
• Cumulative High School GPA
– We take the best of either the weighted or
unweighted GPA
– Core 40 students with a 3.5 HS GPA or higher are
admitted regardless of test score
• SAT or ACT score
– We “super-score” both the SAT and ACT
– We take the best of either the SAT or ACT
Admission Standards for Freshman
Applicants with Core 40 Diploma Only
Measures Related to First-Year GPA
• Strong Predictors
– High School GPA
– SAT (Critical Reading + Math)
• Moderate Predictors
– Number of AP Exams Taken
– Number of Honors/AP Courses Taken
• Weak Predictors
– Years of math in High School
– Years of English in High School
Predictive Accuracy of the Model
Student Performance
N
Percent
Better than predicted
744
34.6%
As well as predicted
1112
51.6%
Lower than predicted
297
13.8%
TOTAL
2153
Predictive Accuracy for Groups
Demographic
Group
Predicted
Actual
Adjusted
Difference
Gender
Males
2.52
2.57
2.49
-0.03
Females
2.61
2.76
2.62
0.01
Asian
2.63
2.71
2.70
0.07
Afr. Amer.
2.31
2.25
2.11
-0.20
Hispanic
2.46
2.70
2.61
0.15
White
2.62
2.75
2.63
0.01
English
2.58
2.67
2.56
-0.02
English +
2.52
2.81
2.73
0.21
Full-time
2.58
2.69
2.58
0.00
Part-time
2.48
2.59
2.47
-0.01
Race/Ethnic
Language
Enrollment