Fairbanks B.E.S.T.
Fairbanks · AK · Fairbanks North Star Borough School District · Public · K-12 combined
📄 Shareable scorecard →Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Houston High School → Palmer High School → Whaley School → Joe Redington Senior Jr/Sr High School → Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High School → Mat-Su Middle College School → CyberLynx Correspondence Program → Burchell High School →📋 At a glance
- 📚 9 AP courses offered — Elite
- ✅ Gifted & talented program
- 🔢 1 calculus classes · 2 physics · 5 chemistry
- 🎓 AP rigor: 73th percentile nationally
- 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 7% by test-taker volume
- 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 44% (Bottom 8% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Fairbanks B.E.S.T. compares for families
Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor at the 73th percentile nationally with 9 AP courses.
- ▸ LocallyAK 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: Houston High School, Palmer High School, Whaley School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
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Get an email when Fairbanks B.E.S.T.'s numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.
🎓 Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth
73th 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).
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Bottom 7% by test-taker volume
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.
🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts
What % of students graduate on time?
Bottom 8% 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 Alaska Fairbanks
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 $10,892/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.
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 +3.3%/year, projecting from 2024's 784 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $20,198 per student in district revenue, the 137 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $2,767,126/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.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston High School Big Lake |
Public | 234.1 | 337 | -8.2% |
| Palmer High School Palmer |
Public | 228.4 | 616 | -17.0% |
| Whaley School Anchorage |
Public | 260.5 | 253 | -8.7% |
| Joe Redington Senior Jr/Sr High School Wasilla |
Public | 239.5 | 231 | -19.5% |
| Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High School Wasilla |
Public | 229.7 | 705 | -7.7% |
| Mat-Su Middle College School Palmer |
Public | 230.8 | 222 | +18.7% |
| CyberLynx Correspondence Program Nenana |
Public | 45.6 | 781 | +55.3% |
| Burchell High School Wasilla |
Public | 232.6 | 200 | -14.9% |