The financial inability to take a college readiness exam should never prevent any student from accessing postsecondary education.

The new ACT requirement for juniors, passed during Minnesota’s 2013 legislative session, prevents this issue by providing free exams.

According to a press release with Senator Kevin Dahle, one of the authors of the bill, the new requirement is an attempt to prepare all high school graduates for the transition to college.

Minnesota has proved itself as one of the most college ready states, achieving the highest average ACT score for the ninth consecutive year, according to the ACT. However, success on the ACT is not distributed evenly by race, something the new requirement will try to change.

Minnesota continues suffer from a large ‘achievement gap’ between ACT performances of black students and white students. According to the ACT, in 2014 only 17 percent of black students met the college readiness benchmarks in Minnesota. This compares to 62 percent of white students.

The ACT requirement for juniors, which takes effect this school year, will work to close the achievement gap by putting more focus on college and career readiness in school curriculum. In addition to the mandatory testing for juniors, the law implements pre-tests for eighth graders and sophomores to prepare students and schools for the eleventh grade ACT.

Being such a diverse school, racially and socioeconomically, Park will greatly benefit from having all juniors take the ACT, jumpstarting every student’s college application. This allows students to bypass one of the biggest difficulties in applying to college which will hopefully increase the number of students who choose to continue their education.

Not only will this new graduation requirement break down the access barriers to postsecondary education for students, it will be a great indicator for teachers and schools to assess how career ready their student body is, according to a statement issued by Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius.

Schools will receive results from both the ACT formatted tests given to eighth and tenth graders, and the junior year ACT. With this information, teachers and schools can decide to alter curriculum or shift a focus to reflect the need shown on the ACT tests. Different from other standardized tests, a pre-exposure to the ACT will actually benefit each student by familiarizing them with test structure and timing, giving Minnesota students an advantage when applying to college over other states nationwide.

Although a four-year college is not the best option for every student, exposure to this readiness test will help guide students to the postsecondary option that best suits them.