Emerald High

At a glance

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

Standout academic depth by national standards.

• ▸ StatewideAP rigor in the top 10% nationally with 16 AP courses.
• ▸ LocallySC 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: Greenwood High, G. Frank Russell Technology Center, Abbeville High and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

90th percentile nationally

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).

4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

Bottom 31% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

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

University of South Carolina-Columbia

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 $22,811/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.

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.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2021 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 +1.6%/year, projecting from 2024's 887 students:

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

Revenue upside

At $14,347 per student in district revenue, the 74 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $1,061,678/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.