Chapel Hill Review

At Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, 555 out of 875 senior students taking the reading portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Reading scores among the district's schools dropped to 63.4% compared to the previous school year, when 68.1% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

East Chapel Hill High School students stood out from schools in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools in reading, with almost 68.2% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (232). Meanwhile, students from Phoenix Academy High struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 18.2% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 36% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for reading during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides reading, 68.2% of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 57.5% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 53.5% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools had an average college readiness of 45% across all ACT areas.

North Carolina's education system is still grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the 2022-23 ACT results, college readiness among North Carolina students falls short of pre-pandemic levels, with only 17.1% meeting benchmarks.

Additionally, the state's performance is lagging behind the national average, which currently stands at 21%.

School	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2021-22)	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2022-23)
East Chapel Hill High School	70.4%	68.2%
Chapel Hill High School	68.1%	62.4%
Carrboro High School	64.6%	61.8%
Phoenix Academy High	<5%	18.2%
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools	68.1%	63.4%