Excel Center - Gary
Gary · IN · Excel Center - Gary · Public charter
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, EDFacts ACGR, 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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Get an email when Excel Center - Gary's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.
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.
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. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.
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% |