Research · High schools - Alaska · October 2026
How Many High Schools Are in Alaska? 252 Public and 12 Private
As of October 2026: Alaska has 264 high schools: 252 public and 12 private. The largest is West High School in Anchorage, with 1,702 students in grades 9 through 12.
The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in Alaska by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
The findings, in plain English
Alaska has 264 high schools. 252 are public and 12 are private. The 242 public high schools that report enrollment hold 31,742 students in grades 9 through 12 between them. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.
West High School is the largest public high school in Alaska. It enrolls 1,702 students in grades 9 through 12 in Anchorage. The 15th largest school on the table, Soldotna High School in Soldotna, enrolls 695. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.
No private high school in Alaska is listed with its own grade 9 start. The federal private school survey is voluntary, and it lists no school in Alaska whose lowest grade is 9. Private schools that also teach younger grades are counted in the state total above but are not shown as high schools here.
The 15 largest public high schools in Alaska
Ranked by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.
| High school | City | Students in grades 9-12 | Charter |
|---|---|---|---|
| West High School | Anchorage | 1,702 | No |
| Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School | Anchorage | 1,636 | No |
| Service High School | Anchorage | 1,518 | No |
| Bartlett High School | Anchorage | 1,413 | No |
| Dimond High School | Anchorage | 1,373 | No |
| South Anchorage High School | Anchorage | 1,239 | No |
| Colony High School | Palmer | 1,046 | No |
| Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kale | Juneau | 1,018 | No |
| Chugiak High School | Chugiak | 928 | No |
| Wasilla High School | Wasilla | 816 | No |
| Lathrop High School | Fairbanks | 788 | No |
| West Valley High School | Fairbanks | 782 | No |
| Eagle River High School | Eagle River | 771 | No |
| Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High School | Wasilla | 705 | No |
| Soldotna High School | Soldotna | 695 | No |
NCES Common Core of Data, grade 9-12 enrollment. Virtual schools are excluded. Absence from this list means a school is not among the largest, nothing more.
What these counts cover
A high school here is a school that serves grade 12. Virtual schools are left out, because a school with no building is not comparable to one with a campus. Public counts come from the federal Common Core of Data, which every public district reports to. Private counts come from the federal Private School Universe Survey.
Enrollment for public schools is the number of students in grades 9 through 12, so a school that also teaches middle school grades is not inflated by them. A school that reports no enrollment figure is counted in the state total but cannot be ranked, which is why the number of schools with an enrollment figure is smaller than the public count.
Private high schools in Alaska
The private table below shows the largest private high schools whose lowest grade is 9. The survey is voluntary, so treat these as the largest among the schools that answered, not a complete ranking. A private school that declines the survey does not appear at all.
Private enrollment is a total, not a grades 9 through 12 count, because the survey does not break it out the same way. Limiting the list to schools that start at grade 9 keeps the figures comparable to each other.
What a family should do with this
Size is a starting point, not a verdict. A large school usually offers more courses, more sports and more clubs, and a small school usually gives a student more contact with the adults who write recommendation letters. Both shapes send students to good colleges.
The more useful question is where a school's own graduates actually go. Our page for each Alaska high school carries that school's figures and, where the school publishes one, its own numbered list of the colleges its graduates chose. Start from the school page rather than from the size of the building.
Questions parents ask
How many high schools are in Alaska?
Alaska has 264 high schools: 252 public and 12 private. The largest is West High School in Anchorage, with 1,702 students in grades 9 through 12.
What is the largest high school in Alaska?
It enrolls 1,702 students in grades 9 through 12 in Anchorage.
Are private high schools included in the Alaska count?
252 are public and 12 are private. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.
Method & sources: Public school counts and grade 9-12 enrollment come from the NCES Common Core of Data; private counts and enrollment come from the NCES Private School Universe Survey, whose respondents are a floor. A high school is a school serving grade 12; virtual schools are excluded. The public table is ranked by grade 9-12 enrollment, and schools without an enrollment figure are counted in the state total but not ranked.
This brief as data: /research/high-schools-in-alaska.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).
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