Historically college applications have gone up during recessions as the opportunity cost of college drops due to worse job prospects (https://www.communitycolle

Historically college applications have gone up during recessions as the opportunity cost of college drops due to worse job prospects (https://www.communitycollegereview.com/blog/why-student-enrollment-rises-as-the-economy-falls https://www.communitycollegereview.com/blog/why-student-enro...). With that said, significant changes in average scores are much more likely to be related to changes like who is taking the test, and massive shocks like the shutdowns during COVID that had a major impact on teaching and student outcomes across all age groups (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/sep/01/math-reading-scores-us-students-covid-pandemic-learning https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/sep/01/math-readi...).