Research · High schools - Nebraska · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in Nebraska? 337 Public and 44 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in Nebraska? 337 Public and 44 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: Nebraska has 381 high schools: 337 public and 44 private. The largest is Grand Island Senior High School in Grand Island, with 2,696 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in Nebraska 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

Nebraska has 381 high schools. 337 are public and 44 are private. The 272 public high schools that report enrollment hold 100,392 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.

Grand Island Senior High School is the largest public high school in Nebraska. It enrolls 2,696 students in grades 9 through 12 in Grand Island. The 15th largest school on the table, Lincoln Northeast High School in Lincoln, enrolls 1,819. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in Nebraska is Pius X High School. It enrolls 1,087 students in Lincoln. That is smaller than every public school on the table above. Private schools report total enrollment to the federal survey, so a school that also teaches younger grades counts those students too. Only schools whose lowest grade is 9 are listed here, so each one is a high school.

The 15 largest public high schools in Nebraska

Ranked by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Grand Island Senior High School	Grand Island	2,696	No
Central High School	Omaha	2,587	No
Millard North High School	Omaha	2,572	No
Millard South High School	Omaha	2,526	No
South High School	Omaha	2,412	No
Millard West High School	Omaha	2,344	No
Westside High School	Omaha	2,145	No
Southwest High School	Lincoln	2,110	No
Lincoln High School	Lincoln	2,086	No
Papillion la Vista South HS	Papillion	2,038	No
Lincoln East High School	Lincoln	1,982	No
North Star High School	Lincoln	1,927	No
Papillion la Vista Senior High	Papillion	1,867	No
Lincoln Southeast High School	Lincoln	1,848	No
Lincoln Northeast High School	Lincoln	1,819	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.

The largest private high schools in Nebraska

Private schools whose lowest grade is 9, by total enrollment.

High school	City	Students
Pius X High School	Lincoln	1,087
Creighton Preparatory School	Omaha	975
Vj & Angela Skutt Catholic High School	Omaha	724
Roncalli Catholic High School	Omaha	340
Mercy High School	Omaha	317

NCES Private School Universe Survey 2021-22, respondents only. Total enrollment, not a grades 9-12 count.

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 Nebraska

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 Nebraska 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 Nebraska?

Nebraska has 381 high schools: 337 public and 44 private. The largest is Grand Island Senior High School in Grand Island, with 2,696 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in Nebraska?

It enrolls 2,696 students in grades 9 through 12 in Grand Island.

Are private high schools included in the Nebraska count?

337 are public and 44 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-nebraska.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).