Carnegie Vanguard H S

HOUSTON · TX · HOUSTON ISD · Public


AP rigor: 86th percentile nationally 27 AP courses

At a glance

Programs & features
  • 27 AP courses offered — Elite
  • Gifted & talented program
  • 5 calculus classes · 10 physics · 12 chemistry
Academic signals
  • AP rigor: 86th percentile nationally
  • SAT/ACT participation: 88th percentile by test-taker volume
  • 4-yr grad rate: 98% (2024-25, Texas TAPR)

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

Where grads go

99.0% of graduates enrolled in any college the fall after graduation.
4-yr public TX college
68.0%
UT-Austin + Texas A&M
30.0%

Source: TEA/THECB college-enrollment figures. Full Texas Reach detail below.

You've seen Carnegie Vanguard H S. What are your child's real college odds? Check any college in 10 seconds — no email needed — then get the free Family Decision Report: Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely + the real cost range for every college on their list. Check odds →

How Carnegie Vanguard H S compares for families

Standout academic depth by national standards.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 14% nationally with 27 AP courses.
  • LocallyTX students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+4 points).
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: KINDER H S FOR PERFORMING AND VISUAL ARTS, DEBAKEY H S FOR HEALTH PROF, WASHINGTON B T H S and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

Get alerts when Carnegie Vanguard H S's numbers change

New admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores — a few alerts a year, no spam. Your email also saves your list across devices.

Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

86th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
27
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
911
≈100 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
20
5 calculus · 15 advanced
Lab science classes
22
10 physics · 12 chemistry
Other rigor signals
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

88th percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
380
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
44.4
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)
5.9%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
26.5%
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.

Federal Title I context

Mixed-income school

Below Title I eligibility threshold (FRPL < 35%)

32.5%
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)

25-34% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Below the federal Title I threshold but a meaningful share of the population is income-eligible for free lunch.

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 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.

🤘 Texas Reach

Where this school's graduates land after high school.

What share of Carnegie Vanguard HS's 2022 graduating class enrolled in college the following fall — and how that splits across Texas higher education. Source-of-truth for college-going at the high-school level in Texas.

Any college
99%
enrolled in TX higher ed, fall after graduation
State sample median: 85%
4-yr public TX
68%
at a TX public university
State sample median: 53%
Flagship
30%
at UT Austin or the Texas A&M system
State sample median: 15%
Cohort: 210 graduates
Class of: 2022
State sample: 98 TX HSs with published data

Houston ISD; consistently top-ranked TX public HS.

Source: TEA TAPR 2022-23, Domain 4 CCMR + Higher Ed Enrollment. Headline rate is "enrolled in Texas higher ed the following fall." Initial dataset covers a curated set of high-profile TX high schools — full per-school ingest pending the THECB open-records data response.

Graduation & Attendance

Does this school get students to the finish line — and keep them in the building?

Two things every family wants to know: do students graduate on time, and do they show up. These are TEA's official campus figures.

4-Year Graduation Rate
98%
Class of 2024, on-time
99% counting GED + continuers
Attendance Rate
97%
share of days attended
Chronic Absenteeism
3%
miss ≥10% of school days — lower is better
Annual Dropout Rate
0%
grades 9-12, one year — lower is better

Source: Texas Education Agency, Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR), 2024-25, All Students. Graduation = 4-year longitudinal rate (Class of 2024); attendance & dropout = SY2023-24. TEA masks small-group results for privacy.

College & Career Readiness

How ready are this school's graduates for what comes next?

Beyond graduating, are students prepared — for college, a career, or the military? These are TEA's official readiness measures for the most recent graduating class.

100%
College, Career & Military Ready (CCMR)
of graduates meet at least one readiness benchmark · 100% met CCMR's college-ready component (a qualifying test score, dual credit, AP/IB, or an associate's degree)
SAT / ACT
% Tested
100%
graduates taking SAT/ACT
Avg SAT
1350
school mean (1600 scale)
Avg ACT
29
school mean (36 scale)
% Above SAT/ACT Criterion
94%
scored above TEA's criterion
Advanced coursework
% Taking AP/IB
100%
enrolled in AP or IB
% Above AP/IB Criterion
95%
scored at the AP/IB benchmark
% Dual-Credit
98%
earning college credit in HS (gr 9-12)
What counts as CCMR-ready? →

Under TEA's accountability system, a graduate counts as College/Career/Military Ready by meeting any one of: a qualifying SAT/ACT or TSI score; AP/IB exam scores of 3+; college dual-credit with a C or better; an associate's degree; an industry-based certification; an OnRamps course; military enlistment; or an aligned career-prep program. It rolls "is this graduate prepared for what's next?" into one comparable number — which is why a school can post a high CCMR even when its average SAT is modest (strong career, military, and dual-credit pathways count too).

Source: Texas Education Agency, Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR), 2024-25, All Students. CCMR / SAT-ACT / AP-IB = Class of 2024 graduates; dual-credit = grades 9-12. School SAT/ACT averages are campus means, not the scores of admitted college applicants. TEA masks small-group results for privacy.

Texas Accountability

TEA's official A–F rating: A (99/100).

The Texas Education Agency's official accountability grade for this campus — a single A–F letter and a 0–100 scaled score the state assigns to every public high school, rolled up from the domains below.

TEA Grade
A
99/100
Student Achievement
99 · A
School Progress
99 · A
Closing the Gaps
100 · A
What the A–F domains mean →

Student Achievement — STAAR performance plus, for high schools, college/career/military readiness and graduation. School Progress — academic growth and performance relative to schools with similar economic profiles. Closing the Gaps — outcomes across student groups. TEA awards the campus the better of two methods per domain; the overall grade is the weighted roll-up.

Source: Texas Education Agency, A–F Accountability Ratings (2024-25) via data.texas.gov; the state's official campus rating under Texas Education Code §39.054. Covers every rated Texas public high school.

Texas State Testing

STAAR End-of-Course results: how many students meet grade level.

The share of students scoring Meets Grade Level or above on Texas's high-school End-of-Course exams — the state's core academic-proficiency benchmark, reported for every campus.

English I
99%
at Meets or above
Approaches 100% · Masters 70%
English II
99%
at Meets or above
Approaches 99% · Masters 51%
Algebra I
96%
at Meets or above
Approaches 98% · Masters 76%
Biology
100%
at Meets or above
Approaches 100% · Masters 69%
U.S. History
98%
at Meets or above
Approaches 100% · Masters 87%
What do Approaches / Meets / Masters mean? →

Texas reports STAAR at three rising bars: Approaches (likely to succeed in the next grade with support), Meets (solid command, on track for college/career readiness — the headline number above), and Masters (advanced command). End-of-Course exams are taken when a student finishes the course, so they reflect that subject's instruction, not a single grade.

Source: Texas Education Agency, Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) STAAR EOC performance, 2024-25, All Students. Small-group results are masked by TEA for privacy and shown only where reported.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
3.1%
Below 10% — strong attendance culture. Chronic absence is a leading indicator of dropout and disengagement; a low rate signals families staying connected to the school.
Students absent 15+ days
28
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: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability.

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

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
428:1
Around the US median. Counselors are stretched but functional.
Counselor FTE
2.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
37
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 248 in 2021 to 188 in 2024 — over 3 years.
-24.2%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -2.1%/year, projecting from 2024's 855 students:

2025
837
2027
801
2029
767

≈ 88 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

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

Revenue at risk

At $13,316 per student in district revenue, the 88 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $1,171,808/year in funding at risk.

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
KINDER H S FOR PERFORMING AND VISUAL ARTS
HOUSTON
Public 1.5 782 +0.1%
DEBAKEY H S FOR HEALTH PROF
HOUSTON
Public 3.7 929 +4.3%
WASHINGTON B T H S
HOUSTON
Public 4.9 811 -4.5%
NORTHSIDE H S
HOUSTON
Public 2.6 1,058 -20.0%
YATES H S
HOUSTON
Public 2.8 685 -26.5%
ENERGY INSTITUTE H S
HOUSTON
Public 3.2 663 -4.7%
WORTHING H S
HOUSTON
Public 6.8 751 -8.9%
AUSTIN H S
HOUSTON
Public 3.6 1,181 -24.3%

For Parents

Researching colleges for your kid at Carnegie Vanguard H S?

Check any college's odds in 10 seconds — no email needed — then get the free Family Decision Report: Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely with real admit odds and your real net price, for every college on their list.

Check your child's odds →
What are your child's odds? →

What families ask next