FRIENDSWOOD H S

FRIENDSWOOD · TX · FRIENDSWOOD ISD · Public

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📚AP rigor: Top 3.7% nationally 📖25 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 25 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 7 calculus classes · 29 physics · 25 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Top 3.7% of US high schools
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Top 2.3% by test-taker volume

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

💡

How FRIENDSWOOD H S compares for families

Among the nation's most academically rigorous high schools.

  • StatewideAP rigor sits in the top 3.7% of US high schools with 25 AP courses.
  • LocallyTX students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+4 points).
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: CLEAR BROOK H S, CLEAR SPRINGS H S, SOUTH HOUSTON H S and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

Top 3.7% of US high schools

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
25
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
662
≈33 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
25
7 calculus · 18 advanced
Lab science classes
54
29 physics · 25 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program
✅ Gifted/talented program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Top 2.3% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
804
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
39.9
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.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
9.4%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
19.5%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

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 Texas at Austin

29%
admit rate
$11,688
in-state tuition/yr · $44,908 out-of-state
1230–1490
SAT 25–75 · ACT 27–33

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 $19,857/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

See the full The University of Texas at Austin profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

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

💰 Pay for college in Texas

Texas's public scholarships

Texas families have two big levers: a guaranteed-admission rule for the top of each graduating class, and the need-based TEXAS Grant that pairs with it. Class rank does more here than almost anywhere.

Auto-admit Top 10% Automatic Admission
Guaranteed admission to a Texas public university (not a $ award)
GPA: Top 10% class rank (UT Austin caps at top 5%)

Graduate in the top 10% of your Texas public-HS class and finish the required curriculum for automatic admission to TX public universities (UT Austin caps at the top 5%). (Must finish the required college-prep curriculum (Distinguished plan).)

Official program details ↗
Need-based TEXAS Grant
Up to $16,182/yr (tuition & required fees)
GPA: No GPA gate to qualify (3.0 / top-third = priority) Income: Need-based (federal Student Aid Index)

Texas's flagship need-based grant — no GPA gate to qualify (a 3.0 or top-third rank just gives priority when funds run short). (Enroll within 16 months of HS, ≥¾ time, in a bachelor's program.)

Official program details ↗
Merit Texas First Early Completion Scholarship
Scholarship equal to the TEXAS Grant amount
GPA: 3.0 Test: SAT/ACT at the 80th percentile OR top-10% class rank

Graduate at least a semester early with the Distinguished plan plus a 3.0 GPA and an 80th-percentile test (or top-10% rank) for a TEXAS Grant-sized scholarship. (Graduate at least a semester early with the Distinguished plan.)

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

Share of students absent 15+ days
14.0%
Roughly average. The national post-COVID rate climbed to ~16% nationwide; this school is in the middle of the pack.
Students absent 15+ days
281
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
336:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
6.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
124
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 493 in 2021 to 509 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+3.2%

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 2,014 students:

2025
2,022
2027
2,038
2029
2,054

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

Revenue upside

At $12,008 per student in district revenue, the 40 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $480,320/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
CLEAR BROOK H S
FRIENDSWOOD
Public 2.8 2,303 -5.2%
CLEAR SPRINGS H S
LEAGUE CITY
Public 4.1 2,668 -3.9%
SOUTH HOUSTON H S
SO HOUSTON
Public 9.7 2,185 -5.5%
MANVEL H S
MANVEL
Public 9.8 2,238 -23.9%
CLEAR LAKE H S
HOUSTON
Public 7.8 2,500 +0.4%
CLEAR CREEK H S
LEAGUE CITY
Public 8.3 2,469 +5.2%
ALVIN H S
ALVIN
Public 7.0 2,766 -3.0%
CHAVEZ H S
HOUSTON
Public 12.4 1,857 -23.7%

For Parents

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