The Tarheel state lays claim to some of the best public school systems in the southeastern region of the United States; North Carolina schools rank 11th in the nation in college readiness according to U.S. News & World Report.

The best school district in North Carolina is Chapel-Hill-Carrboro City Schools, comprising 19 schools serving over 12,000 students in the southeastern part of Orange County, NC. Two of the districts high schools have been featured in The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek’s rankings of the best high schools in the nation.

Another large district of schools, Union City Public Schools of Union County, NC, ranks #2. UCPS’s accomplishments are vast; the district is home to three National Blue Ribbon award winning schools and boasts a graduation rate of 92.5 percent.

North Carolina’s largest school district, the Wake County Public School System, places third in the ranking. WCPSS administers 171 schools with over 160,000 students as of 2018.

Fourth on the list is Polk County Schools, a comparatively smaller district of seven schools located in rural Western North Carolina. Students enrolled in the districts schools have achieved an excellent graduation rate of 89%.

Asheville City Schools, a district of eleven schools serving the college town/outdoor recreation mecca of Asheville, NC, closes out the list of North Carolina’s top five public school districts.

Methodology

The following contributed to the ranking: student performance (math and reading test scores), dropout rates, school funding, and area poverty rates. Data was collected from a total of 9,577 school districts.

Did your district make the list?