Van Buren Co High School
Spencer · TN · Van Buren County · Public · K-12 combined
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Bledsoe County High School → Midway High School → Sequoyah High School → Sale Creek Middle / High School → Chattanooga Preparatory School → Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy → Ivy Academy Inc. → South Pittsburg High School →📋 At a glance
- ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- ✅ Gifted & talented program
- 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 29% of US high schools
- 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 61th percentile by test-taker volume
- 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 95% (75th percentile nationally)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Van Buren Co High School compares for families
What families should know about Van Buren Co High School.
- ▸ LocallyTN sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Bledsoe County High School, Midway High School, Sequoyah High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
Follow Van Buren Co High School
Get an email when Van Buren Co High School's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-2161th percentile by test-taker volume
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?
75th percentile nationally
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
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.
🏛️ Your state's public flagship
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville
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 $18,976/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
💰 Pay for college in Tennessee
Tennessee's public scholarships
Tennessee pairs a lottery-funded merit award (HOPE) with the well-known TN Promise, which makes community and technical college essentially free for any graduate.
Lottery-funded merit award — qualify with EITHER a 3.0 weighted GPA OR ACT 21 / SAT 1060. No income limit. (Qualify by either path; enroll within 16 months of graduating.)
Official program details ↗Tuition-free community or technical college for any TN grad — no GPA, test, or income requirement. (Apply senior year; FAFSA, mentor meeting, 8 hrs community service/term.)
Official program details ↗Eligibility rules change yearly — confirm with the official program before relying on it. Amounts are recent published figures; awards cover tuition/fees, not housing or books unless noted. Verified 2026-06-14.
Chronic absenteeism
Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss. 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
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
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of +0.4%/year, projecting from 2024's 384 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $13,429 per student in district revenue, the 7 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $94,003/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.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bledsoe County High School Pikeville |
Public | 18.1 | 457 | -4.4% |
| Midway High School Kingston |
Public | 51.3 | 217 | -5.7% |
| Sequoyah High School Soddy Daisy |
Public | 39.8 | 235 | +11.4% |
| Sale Creek Middle / High School Sale Creek |
Public | 32.7 | 296 | -9.5% |
| Chattanooga Preparatory School Chattanooga |
Public · charter | 50.8 | 251 | +253.5% |
| Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy Chattanooga |
Public · charter | 50.8 | 154 | -13.0% |
| Ivy Academy Inc. Soddy Daisy |
Public · charter | 39.2 | 272 | +15.7% |
| South Pittsburg High School South Pittsburg |
Public | 53.3 | 277 | +2.2% |