Kirkwood High School Wants to Cover Cost of ACT

administrators hope to offer the ACT test during the regular school day to all juniors, beginning next year.

The ACT is one of the most widely accepted college-entrance exams that high school juniors take each year. The test is normally offered only on Saturdays at designated testing centers and students must pay for it themselves – the registration fee for the basic test is $34 this year.

But KHS principal wants every Kirkwood junior to take the test for free, in their own school, during the regular school day.

“My goal is to provide opportunities for all of our students to be successful,” Havener said. “We are telling our students that we are preparing them for college – we need to back that up.”

Havener said administrators made a formal request to the ACT and are waiting to hear back. If the request is approved, the school board still must approve funding. 

The estimated annual cost is about $17,000, he said. That would pay for the test for the entire junior class, which averages about 430 students. In addition, ACT would provide reports on the test results, which could help teachers adjust their lesson plans.

Many Kirkwood students already take the ACT and some take it multiple times, but Havener said that as many as 20 to 30 percent of students don’t take the test at all, for a variety of reasons, including cost.

“This would give all the students at least one opportunity to take it for free,” Havener said.

He said he hoped it would inspire some students to go on to college who might not otherwise have considered it. It also might give students confidence that they could score better on a subsequent test, he said.