Ninety students at Madison Central have scored a 30 or higher composite score on the ACT college entry
exam, which puts them in the top 5 percent of the nation. Well over a million students annually take the
ACT, which has a top score of 36.
“This in itself is amazing,” principal Austin Brown said.
Fifty-four seniors, or about 15 percent of the Class of 2014, scored a 30 or above on the test. Twenty-nine
juniors and seven sophomores are also among the scholars the school has recognized with a 30-
Plus Club.
”To recognize just how few students achieve this, if every school had a 30-Plus Club across the nation,
there were be a select few taking part,” Brown said. ”This is a very exclusive club, not just in the state of
Mississippi but in the nation.”
Students who score a 33 or above are among the top 1 percent in the nation. Of the 90 students in the
30-Plus Club, 24 of them, or about 26 percent, land in that top 1 percent with scores of 33 to 36.
Madison Central’s senior class has four students who scored a 36 on the ACT and two who scored a 35.
The average national score for the ACT in 2013 was 20.9 and the average composite score in Mississippi
was 18.9.
The high scores can translate into millions of dollars in college scholarships for the students. Madison
Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler said the high scores will also have an economic impact on the city.
For more information and interviews:
Principal Austin Brown at (601) 856-7121
PTO President Susan Branson at (601) 331-7201
