Average national SAT scores for the high school class of 2008 were the same as last year, even as a larger, more diverse group took the test

A record 1.52 million students took the SAT, an increase of 1.6 percent from 2007. Scores on math and critical reading had declined in recent years, and average scores dip as the pool of test takers increases, "so we're encouraged by the stability" of this year's scores, said Gaston Caperton, president of the non-profit College Board, the SAT's owner. Even so, average scores for blacks, Hispanics and some other minorities dropped while those of white and Asian students rose.