Preliminary results from a standardized test evaluating graduating seniors placed Hillsdale College’s class of 2016 in the 99th percentile compared to average scores from 294 institutions nationwide.
The score represented 49 of the target 50 Hillsdale seniors taking the test. This Proficiency Profile is akin to a college-level SAT, with subjects such as critical thinking, mathematics, and science. It serves the college as a measure of education assessment.
In its inaugural year, the Proficiency Profile represents a larger revision of how the college evaluates the education of its student body.
“This standardized test provides a benchmark for us to compare the results to other institutions, which makes it more meaningful data,” Assistant to the Provost Mark Maier said.
Maier said the test was also attractive because seniors who scored well on it would receive a certificate of their “proficiency” and could reference the results on their resume.
“We chose the Proficiency Profile because it’s one of the tests with the most visibility and participants,” Director of Institutional Research George Allen said. “Its author is one of the most widely recognized as a legitimate and legitimizing body. It produces the GRE graduate school entry exam, for example.”
Allen advertised the test to seniors with the incentive of receiving a $25 Amazon gift card after they answered the 108 questions in the two-hour time limit.
Initially concerned that the high score was representative of only the best and brightest of the senior class, Allen calculated the average GPA of the participants as 3.4, which closely correlates to the average GPA of the senior body as a whole. Further analyzing the data, Allen found that 11 of the seniors were natural science majors, 10 were humanities majors, and 28 represented majors from social sciences, sports studies, and interdisciplinary studies.