Average SAT scores in Kansas this year were virtually unchanged from last year, according to figures released Tuesday by the College Board, reflecting a national trend, although students in Kansas continued to perform significantly better than the national average.

Overall in Kansas, 74.6 percent of Kansas students taking the SAT last spring met the College Board’s benchmark for college and career readiness. Last year, the rate was 74.8 percent.

The benchmark is a composite score of 1550. Based on studies by the College Board, that score corresponds to a student having a 65 percent probability of earning a B- grade average during his or her first year at a four-year college or university.

Average scores on the SAT in Kansas are typically much higher than the national average because a much smaller percentage of students take the exam. The SAT is one of two major college entrance exams taken by high school students in the United States. In Kansas, the overwhelming majority take the alternative ACT exam, although some students take both.

Although neither exam is required for admission to most colleges and universities, in Kansas they can be used as one way of meeting the qualified admissions standards for universities in the state Regents system.

The College Board is a private company that administers the SAT. It also provides curricula and sets standards for advanced placement, or AP courses, and other academic programs used in both public and private schools throughout the United States.

In its report Tuesday, the College Board noted that Kansas has made significant progress in increasing the number of students who enroll in the college preparatory AP courses.

Last year, 10.7 percent of Kansas high school juniors and seniors were enrolled in at least one AP course, up from only 4.8 percent a decade ago. Still, the participation rate in Kansas remained much lower than it was nationally, where nearly 22 percent of juniors and seniors took at least one AP course.

“Kansas has made a great commitment to expanding access to challenging course work for students across the state,” the College Board said in a report released Tuesday. “As a result, students have made gains in participation and success.”