Chapel Hill Review

At Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, 503 out of 875 senior 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 dropped to 57.5% compared to the previous school year, when 61.4% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Carrboro High School students stood out from schools in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools in science, with almost 63.1% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (99). Meanwhile, students from Chapel Hill High School struggled the most on the science portion, and only 54.2% 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, 68.2% of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 63.4% 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)
Carrboro High School	59.6%	63.1%
East Chapel Hill High School	66.9%	62.1%
Chapel Hill High School	56.9%	54.2%
Phoenix Academy High	<5%	<5%
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools	61.4%	57.5%