A cumulative percentage indicates the percentage of scores at and below a given score. A cumulative percentage is also known as a percentile rank. Most every college student is familiar with percentile ranks because they have been given their percentile rank on standardized college admission tests. If you scored in the 87th Percentile on the SAT, that means that 87% of the students taking the test when you did had the same or a lower score than you did.
Note that the Quartiles are also percentiles in multiples of 25%. That is, the First Quartile is also the 25th percentile, and the Second Quartile is also the 50th Percentile, and the Third Quartile is the 75th Percentile
Key Terms
Percentage, Proportion, Rate, Cumulative Percent, Percentile Rank
Last Modified: 02/18/2019
