Only one in five high school graduates is ready for college, according to a study by ACT, Inc., the group that writes the ACT.

The study, "A Crisis at the Core," said only 22 percent of 1.2 million high school students who took the ACT in 2004 met all three College Readiness Benchmarks set last year by the organization. The benchmarks are set at scores of 18 in English, 22 in math and 24 in science, as measured out of a possible score of 36.

"It's a concern, and it's an area that we need to pay attention to," said Jon Erickson, vice president of educational services for ACT.

Erickson said 56 percent of students in 2004 took the ACT-recommended number of classes in each subject.

"Not enough students are taking enough courses," Erickson said.

The overall average scores on the test did go up slightly, from 20.8 in 2002 to 20.9 this year, said Robert Schaeffer, the public education director for the National Center of Fair and Open Testing. In addition, the number of students taking the test has increased from 892,000 in 1994 to a little less than 1.2 million in 2004, he said.

"The trend lines are a little bit misleading," Schaeffer said. "Based on what colleges say, the percentage of students who go to college and succeed in those areas is higher than the 22 percent."

Roby Blust, dean of undergraduate admissions at Marquette, said the best predictor of college success is looking at standardized test scores together with high school performance.

"In my mind it's very much a combination of factors, and that's what we use," Blust said.

Marquette does not have any cutoff standardized test score requirement. The average ACT score of incoming freshmen in 2003 was 25. The scores have gone up among students who have been accepted to Marquette in recent years, Blust said.

"I don't think requiring students to do better on the ACT or SAT is going to prepare them better for college," Blust said. "The focus shouldn't be on the test (for students), but on everything they're doing to prepare for college."

The average ACT score in Wisconsin last year was a little over 22, according to Keith Decker, a guidance counselor at Franklin High School.

"Our kids scored above state averages," Decker said. "Our kids are feeling pretty well prepared for college."

Gwen Spencer, principal of Shalom High School in Milwaukee, said she agreed with the findings of the report.

"I think that (the study) says that we have some work to do," Spencer said. "I think it means we need to prepare our curricula to have more real life practical strategies."

ACT, Inc. is working with school districts to measure the rigor of their courses and help them make improvements, Erickson said.

"We're going to have a number of resources that schools can use to see where the achievement gaps are and what they can do about it," Erickson said. "It's an issue that we're very dedicated to and we're going to continue to look at over the next few years."

Schaeffer said although it is important, the problem is not as serious as it is being made out to be.

"This is part of an attempt to market (ACT Inc.'s) approaches to schools." Schaeffer said.