Average scores on the ACT college entrance exam dipped slightly for the high school class of 2008 as the number of students taking the exam jumped by 9 percent compared to last year.

This year’s results, released Wednesday, reveal that more than three in four test-takers will likely need remedial help in at least one subject to succeed in college. But the ACT's creators said it was good news that average scores held nearly steady even as more students took the exam. That means the total number who've earned benchmark scores showing they're ready for college-level work is rising.

"In terms of the number of students who are ready this year compared to last, we are talking about genuine progress," said Cyndie Schmeiser, president and COO of the ACT Education Division. "More students are reaching at least a minimum level of readiness for college-credit courses. We're keeping a lot of kids from having to take remedial level courses. That translates to millions of dollars that are being saved at the state level."

The average ACT composite score was 21.1 for the class of 2008, compared to 21.2 a year ago, on a scale of 1 to 36.

"We have a more heterogeneous population of test-takers, so we're including those kids who weren't considering college or aren't considering college," Schmeiser said, explaining the slight decline.

A record 1.42 million or 43 percent of this year's high school graduates took the ACT. It was the first time a full grade level of students had been required to take the exam in Michigan, which joined Illinois in Colorado as the only states mandating the ACT statewide. Kentucky and Wyoming began administering the test statewide this year for the class of 2009, and a growing number of school districts are requiring all students to take the ACT.