Selma High School

Selma · AL · Selma City · Public

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📋 At a glance

Programs & features
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 14% of US high schools
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 35% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 91% (54th percentile nationally)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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How Selma High School compares for families

What families should know about Selma High School.

  • LocallyAL trails the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (−10 points). Stronger local schools matter even more.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Dallas County Career Technical Center, Southside High School, Dallas County High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 35% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
36
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
5.3
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

54th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
91%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
215
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
20.0%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
5.7%
Around the national average. Worth watching.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

High-poverty school

Title I Schoolwide eligible

87.1%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

≥75% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. These schools qualify for the highest tier of federal Title I funding and typically receive extra wraparound services. Academic outcomes vary widely — check the state assessment + grad-rate tiles.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

🏛️ Your state's public flagship

The University of Alabama

76%
admit rate
$12,180
in-state tuition/yr · $34,172 out-of-state
1170–1400
SAT 25–75 · ACT 24–31

The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $22,420/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

See the full The University of Alabama profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
12.4%
Roughly average. The national post-COVID rate climbed to ~16% nationwide; this school is in the middle of the pack.
Students absent 15+ days
84
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the strongest early indicator of dropout, transfer-out, and family disengagement. A school's absenteeism trend forecasts its enrollment trend 1-3 years out. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
340:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
2.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
54
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 130 in 2021 to 166 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+27.7%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +3.8%/year, projecting from 2024's 680 students:

2025
706
2027
761
2029
820

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue upside

At $12,978 per student in district revenue, the 140 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $1,816,920/year in additional funding.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Most similar nearby high schools

The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Dallas County Career Technical Center
Selma
Public 3.9
Southside High School
Selma
Public 8.9 285 -8.9%
Dallas County High School
Plantersville
Public 17.0 334 -12.3%
Marbury High School
Deatsville
Public 34.1 626 +9.2%
Jemison High School
Jemison
Public 40.4 702 +8.7%
Demopolis High School
Demopolis
Public 48.2 594 -9.0%
Chilton County High School
Clanton
Public 36.2 833 +4.0%
Pike Road High School
Pike Road
Public 53.9 833 +53.7%

For Parents

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