Chapel Hill Review

At Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, 569 out of 920 junior students taking the science portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Science scores among the district's schools rose to 61.9% compared to the previous school year, when 58.5% 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 science, with almost 64.8% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (215). Meanwhile, students from Carrboro High School struggled the most on the science portion, and 60.2% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 26% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for science during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides science, 75.3% of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools 11th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 65.7% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 56% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools had an average college readiness of 49.8% 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	65.6%	64.8%
Chapel Hill High School	52.8%	62.2%
Carrboro High School	62.3%	60.2%
Phoenix Academy High	5.6%	<5%
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools	58.5%	61.9%