Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Steel City Academy → Neighbors' New Vistas High School → Excel Center - Hammond → Gary Middle College → Thea Bowman Leadership Academy → Gary Career Center → Area Career Center → Hammond Academy of Science & Tech →At a glance
- AP rigor: Bottom 6% of US high schools
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Excel Center - Gary compares for families
What families should know about Excel Center - Gary.
- ▸ LocallyIN students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+8 points).
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Steel City Academy, Neighbors' New Vistas High School, Excel Center - Hammond and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Source: 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.
Federal Title I context
Lower-need school
Not Title I eligible (FRPL < 25%)
<25% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Well below the Title I threshold; expect a higher-income student body on average.
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
Indiana University-Bloomington
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 $16,264/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.
Pay for college in Indiana
Indiana's public scholarships
Indiana's signature aid is income-qualified and front-loaded: families must enroll in 21st Century Scholars back in middle school. The Frank O'Bannon Grant is the open need-based backstop.
Income-qualified promise: sign up in 7th–8th grade, then earn it with a 2.5 GPA and a Core 40 diploma. Covers up to full public-college tuition. (Must enroll in the program in 7th or 8th grade.)
Official program details ↗Indiana's main need-based grant — awarded on FAFSA financial need with no GPA or test gate. (File the FAFSA by April 15; enroll full-time.)
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.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of -0.0%/year, projecting from 2024's 125 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
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.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steel City Academy Gary |
Public · charter | 1.4 | 91 | -49.7% |
| Neighbors' New Vistas High School Portage |
Public · charter | 9.4 | 126 | +23.5% |
| Excel Center - Hammond Hammond |
Public · charter | 3.7 | 205 | +23.5% |
| Gary Middle College Gary |
Public · charter | 4.8 | 202 | +22.4% |
| Thea Bowman Leadership Academy Gary |
Public · charter | 3.6 | 250 | -12.3% |
| Gary Career Center Gary |
Public | 4.2 | — | — |
| Area Career Center Hammond |
Public | 7.4 | — | — |
| Hammond Academy of Science & Tech Hammond |
Public · charter | 8.1 | 294 | +5.4% |