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ByJenniferC.Kerr The Associated Press WASHINGTON The latest scores from the ACT col- lege entrance exam suggest many of this year's high school graduates aren't readyforcollege-levelcourse work. In its annual score report released Wednesday, the testing company said only 38 percent of graduating se- niors who took the exam hit the college-prepared bench- mark in at least three of the four core subjects tested — reading, English, math and science. That compares with 40 percent last year. The benchmark is designed to measure a strong readiness for college. The average compos- ite score also declined a bit, down from 21 to 20.8 this year. The four tests are scored on a scale of 1 to 36. The composite is the aver- age of the four scores. Many collegesusethecompositein admissions. ACT's Paul Weeks says the declines were expected, given the growing and changing demographics of the testing population. Sixty-four percent of the 2016graduatestooktheACT, meaning nearly 2.1 million students, compared with 59 percent the year before. That increases the share of test-takers who aren't nec- essarily college bound, said Weeks, senior vice president for client relations, in an in- terview. Bycomparison,1.7million graduating seniors in 2015 took the SAT, the other ma- jor college entrance exam. The College Board expects to release updated 2016 numbers for the SAT in the fall. Of the ACT-tested high school graduates this year, 61 percent met the English benchmark of 18 points, which indicates a student is likely ready for a college composition course and would earn a "C" or better grade. In reading, 44 per- cent met the 22-point mark that suggests readiness for a college-level social-sciences course. For math, 41 percent met the 22-point threshold that predicts success in an algebra course. And in sci- ence, 36 percent reached the 23-point score that predicts success in an entry-level bi- ology course. In contrast, 34 percent of 2016 grads did not meet any of the four benchmarks. Weeks called that number alarming, an indication those students are likely to struggle with first-year courses and end up in re- medial classes that will de- lay degree completion and increase college costs. The report showed a rel- atively wide gulf, by race, in thepercentagesofgraduates hitting three or more of the college-ready benchmarks. Forty-nine percent of white test-takers met the three-or- more benchmark, compared with 11 percent of African- Americans and 23 percent of Hispanic test-takers. But the gaps between the groups haven't shifted that much, for better or worse, in the past four years. Other findings in the an- nual score report: •Massachusetts had the highest average compos- ite score, at 24.8. It was fol- lowed by Connecticut and New Hampshire, both with a 24.5 average composite score. •Inthepastfouryears,the proportion of students say- ing they would like to pur- suevocational/technicaland two-year degrees increased by 2 percent. The propor- tion aspiring to higher lev- els of education dropped by 6 percent. The testing company says 20 states funded ACT test- ing for public school stu- dents in the 2016 graduat- ing class. Those states are: Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Min- nesota, Mississippi, Mis- souri, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, North Da- kota, South Carolina, Ten- nessee, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. EDUCATION ACTscoresshowmanygrads not ready for college-level work JACQUELYNMARTIN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE A computer-based practice ACT English test is displayed on a computer monitor in Washington. By Rachelle Blidner The Associated Press NEW YORK A Mississippi firefighter who received the world's most extensive face transplant after a burn- ing building collapsed on him said Wednesday that he feels like "a normal guy" for the first time in 15 years. Patrick Hardison, 42, said he can now eat, see, hear and breathe normally, thanks to last year's sur- gery. He has a full head of hair and hits the gym twice a week. "Before the transplant, every day I had to wake up and get myself motivated to face the world," Hardison told reporters at NYU Lan- gone Medical Center. "Now I don't worry about people pointing and staring or kids running away crying. . I'm happy." Hardison was a volun- teer firefighter in Senato- bia, Mississippi, when a building collapsed on him in 2001. He had 71 recon- structive surgeries before the transplant. While there have been nearly 40 face transplant surgeries since 2005, Hardi- son's was the first to include a scalp and functioning eyelids. 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