As the number of students taking the SAT college entrance exam decreases, the ACT -- which Penn State has accepted for years -- is now being recognized by every four-year college and university in the country.

Both the popularity and average score of the ACT have risen dramatically in recent years, which Ken Gullette, ACT spokesman, said may have led Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif., to be the last college to accept the ACT.

This year, the ACT reported an increase of 20,000 test-takers from the previous year, Gullette said.

"October 2006 was the biggest test date the ACT ever had," Gullette said.

"More than 1.2 million high school graduates last year had taken the ACT -- that's 40 percent."

The ACT, first introduced in 1959 and based out of Iowa City, has long taken a back seat to the SAT, introduced in 1926.

However, the more popular SAT had a drop of nearly 10,000 test-takers last year, according to collegeboard.com.

The tests' Web sites also reported that the national average score on the SAT dropped, but the nation average score rose significantly on the ACT.

The two tests are scored differently -- the top score for the ACT is 36, while the maximum on the SAT is now 2400 -- but they measure the same basic subjects, Gullette said.

There are two major differences between the two in the subjects being tested, Gullette said. There is a science section on the ACT, which the SAT does not have and, until March 2005, only the ACT had a writing section.

"A lot of students say that the ACT is more comfortable because it's an achievement test, and we base it on what they learned in school," Gullette said. "It's an academic test, not an aptitude test."

Penn State has been accepting both the ACT and the SAT "for as long as the ACT has been around," said Randall Deike, associate vice president for enrollment management and executive director for undergraduate admissions.

Deike said the ACT is much more prevalent in the Midwest, while the SAT is more widely taken in the eastern part of the country.

He added that all colleges in the Big Ten Conference have accepted both the ACT and the SAT for "a while now."

"At Penn State, we don't really have a preference, but it just happens that most PSU applicants have taken the SAT, not the ACT," he said. "We've seen some increase in students who have taken both tests, but for the most part, applicants here have taken the SAT."

Ashley Baker (junior-special education) said she thinks recent problems and changes to the SAT are contributing to the ACT's popularity.

"I took the SAT because it was the most widely-accepted at the time I applied to schools," Baker said.

"I think that it will start to change a lot, which test people take, because a lot of people have problems taking the SAT and a lot of people think it's an inaccurate measure of knowledge."