ACT Aspire™
Transition to College

The ACT Aspire™ system provides a longitudinal, systematic approach for assessing and monitoring students’ preparation for high school studies and readiness for college and career. ACT Aspire™ includes assessments for students from grade 3 through early high school in five subject areas: English, mathematics, reading, science, and writing. The system uses a standard scoring system that measures progress through each grade level and culminates with the ACT® college admissions test. The ACT Aspire™ system includes a variety of reporting features that permit schools to track individual student progress and examine trends for groups of learners. An earlier version of the program, the Educational Planning and Assessment System (EPAS®), included assessments for students in grades 8 and 9 to measure preparation for high school studies (EXPLORE®), grade 10 to measure preparation for college and the workplace (PLAN®), and grades 11 and 12 to measure readiness for life after high school (the ACT®). ACT began phasing out the use of EPAS® in 2014 and replaced it with the new ACT Aspire™ system.