By Daniel Millions

The ACT or College Assessment Exam is the principle method of measuring a student’s general educational performance within the United States. All four-year colleges and universities accept the ACT as the basis for entry. This article will briefly describe the origins of the ACT test and also the structure and format of the test. The ACT exam is an important milestone in the education of a child, as it can determine the eventual level of education that they will receive and their future job prospects.

The College Assessment Exam or the American College Testing Program (also known as ACT) was first introduced in 1959 and was active nationwide the following year. It was designed by Everett F. Lindquist, a professor of Education at the University of Iowa to be a direct alternative to the established Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Lindquist believed that the SAT’s focus on cognitive reasoning abilities did not demonstrate the true potential in young students. Instead he designed a test that challenged the level of practical knowledge that a student had acquired.

The ACT test is designed to test student’s abilities in four key areas of education. They are English, Mathematics, Science and Reading. Since 2005 an additional option of Writing has been added to the exam. There are a total of 215 questions in the test and it takes approximately four hours to complete. If the writing test is taken then an additional thirty minutes is allowed.

Students will typically take the English test first. This comprises of seventy-five questions that aim to examine mechanical and rhetorical skills. Generally questions will focus on sentence structure and the tone of the writer. The Mathematics test comprises of sixty questions that test the student’s ability in algebra, plane geometry, coordinate geometry and trigonometry.

The third section is designed to test the student’s reading ability. There are forty questions on fiction, social sciences, humanities, the natural and physical sciences. There is a wide range of subjects in this section that aim to test the breadth of a person’s general knowledge.

The final compulsory section is centered on science. This is designed to test a person’s reasoning skills. This comprises of forty questions that aim to test their ability to problem solve, analyze data and understand a research synopsis.

The optional writing exam will test the student’s ability to plan and write a short essay. Demonstrating this ability helps to analyze the student’s capability to develop structure, reasoning and coherent argument. Usually the student is requested to write the essay on a social issue that is relevant to them and their school.

The maximum points that can be attained in the test is 36 (if the student takes the optional writing module). According to the most recent figures the national average for the SAT test is 21.2, this is a marginal increase from the previous year.

In most states the ACT is available to be taken five times in a year and students can take the test as many times as they wish, but only once per testing period. There are some obvious benefits to taking the test on more than one occasion. Research carried out has show that around fifty-five percent of those who retook the ACT exam were able to increase their score the second time around.

About the Author: Learn more about the ACT test and ACT test registration locations.

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By Sean A. Kelly

During the recent recession, many mortgage companies and financial institutions had to shut down their businesses as they failed to cope with the economic downturn. When that happens, many consumers with low or moderate incomes may also find it difficult to buy or refinance a home as mortgage companies and financial institutions that did not shut down may not be able to offer the type of loan that they can afford. Once the federal government came up with new solutions to make home buying more affordable for many consumers, US Bank Home Mortgage also started playing their part in order to improve the property business in the country as well as helping more consumers to be able to afford buying a home.

US Bank Home Mortgage may be one of the major financial institutions that offer the Making Home Affordable program as announced by the U.S. Treasury Department as one of the government’s proactive efforts to help boost the property market and allow eligible borrowers to refinance or modify their mortgage loans so that they can better afford the payments. The idea is to assist families to lower their monthly payments and avoid foreclosure as well as foreclosure scams. You may think that by doing so the bank may be losing more money as the reduced payments may mean that they would be making less money than before. However, compared to the extremely high cost of foreclosure and the possibility of losing all their money, US Bank may at least be able to gain back some of their money from their consumers.

Under the Making Home Affordable program, US Bank rates and mortgages offer considerably lower interest rates to meet the requirements of the program to enable home buyers to refinance their home and reduce their monthly payments. Of course, consumers may have the option of refinancing or modifying their loans but with lower interest rates. In general, the rate may be based on market rates in effect at the time of the refinance and modification application. Home owners may also be subject to any associated point and fees. Even though the interest rate also depends slightly upon the discretion of US Bank, it may still be lower depending on the eligibility of the applicants. The upside is that the refinanced loans may not have any prepayment penalty or balloon payments.

Home owners may also apply for US Bank Refinance Home Loans under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) in order to be able to maintain ownership of their own homes. In this time of bad economy it may be harder to keep your home than to lose it. In order to qualify for a HARP refinance with US Bank you may have to ensure that your current mortgage is backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. If it is then you may proceed to contact a US Bank loan officer to apply. Of course, it would help speed up your application process if you could gather enough information prior to applying such as your gross income pay stubs, income tax returns, any junior lien mortgage on your home and also account balances of your credit cards and other debts.

The HARP program is designed to help consumers maintain ownership on their home during the global recession and the US Bank clearly supports the government’s efforts to improve the current state of the property market. Basically by doing so, US Bank may also benefit from the program as they too may have the opportunity to recover their losses should their consumers be forced to foreclose.

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us bank home mortgageus bank rates and mortgagesus bank refinance home loans

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