Overview
- ETS announced Tuesday that it acquired ACT from private equity firm Nexus and declined to disclose the financial terms of the purchase.
- Both organizations said immediate operations will continue as normal and that upcoming ACT test formats, schedules and score reporting will not change for students already registered this year.
- Leaders said they plan to combine ETS’s measurement research and AI tools with ACT’s WorkKeys and career-readiness products to build digital, skills-based assessments and workforce credentials.
- The transaction reflects consolidation in testing after years of falling SAT and ACT participation, with ACT test-taker counts dropping to about 1.38 million in 2025 from 1.78 million in 2019.
- States, colleges and employers that use ACT results for accountability, admissions or hiring should watch for future integration that could affect score reporting, state assessment contracts and credential recognition.