Hartselle High School graduates are more prepared for college than ever, according to information released today by American College Testing (ACT).

The average composite ACT score of the HHS Class of 2014 was 23.5, up from 23 in 2013. The national composite score was 21 while the state average is 20.6.

Of those, 41 percent of Hartselle seniors met all four ACT benchmarks compared to 26 percent nationally and 21 percent in the state.

Principal Jeff Hyche attributes the success to the added rigor in the classroom.

“We are excited about the results,” Hyche said. “I think it goes back to beefing up our class offerings in grades six through 12. We are offering a large number of pre-AP (Advanced Placement) courses in lower grades. It has helped the students to become more college ready.”

Superintendent Vic Wilson echoed Hyche’s excitement.

“I think it shows how well we do as a whole system in preparing students for college,” Wilson said.

One area that Hartselle excelled in was English. Students had an average score of 24.7 with 84 percent of the students meeting the benchmark, compared with a state score of 20.7 and national average of 20.3.

“We are blowing it out of the water in English,” Hyche said. “There will always be fluctuation between classes. Some will do better than others on testing, but it is encouraging to see a general trend of steady improvement.”

Following the high English score was a 23.7 in reading, 22.9 in science and 22.5 in math. Those scores were each more than two points ahead of the state and national averages.