Great Bend High School

Great Bend · KS · Great Bend · Public


At a glance

Programs & features
  • 5 AP courses offered — Strong
  • Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • 2 calculus classes · 2 physics · 6 chemistry
Academic signals
  • AP rigor: 64th percentile nationally
  • SAT/ACT participation: 62nd percentile by test-taker volume
  • 4-yr grad rate: 91% in 2019 (54th percentile nationally)

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

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How Great Bend High School compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

  • ▸ StatewideAP rigor at the 64th percentile nationally with 5 AP courses.
  • ▸ LocallyKS 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: Salina High Central, Hays High, Salina High South and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Strong — solid AP program + advanced courses

64th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
5
Math ✓
Students taking AP courses
90
≈10 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
10
2 calculus · 8 advanced
Lab science classes
8
2 physics · 6 chemistry
Other rigor signals
Dual-enrollment 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

62nd percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
107
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
11.6
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.

4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

54th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
91%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
241
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

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

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
6.6%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
40.3%
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

Title I Schoolwide eligible

≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program

61.8%
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)

40-74% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The district can use Title I funds across the whole school under federal Schoolwide Program rules.

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

University of Kansas

88%
admit rate
$12,102
in-state tuition/yr · $30,432 out-of-state
1050–1290
SAT 25–75 · ACT 21–27

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 $18,059/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

See the full University of Kansas profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
50.3%
Well above the national average (~16%). At this level, chronic absence becomes a leading driver of enrollment loss as families rotate to other schools.
Students absent 15+ days
433
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: 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

Student : Counselor
308:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
3.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
69
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 174 in 2021 to 237 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+36.2%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +2.6%/year, projecting from 2024's 923 students:

2025
947
2027
997
2029
1,049

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

Revenue upside

At $16,754 per student in district revenue, the 126 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $2,111,004/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.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Salina High Central
Salina
Public 70.4 934 -7.3%
Hays High
Hays
Public 44.6 1,017 +14.1%
Salina High South
Salina
Public 69.7 1,046 +0.7%
Hoisington High
Hoisington
Public 10.3 225 +0.0%
Hutchinson High School
Hutchinson
Public 51.0 1,214 -8.4%
Buhler High
Buhler
Public 56.5 674 +2.4%
McPherson High
McPherson
Public 60.4 658 -9.9%
Ellinwood High
Ellinwood
Public 10.4 146 +7.4%

At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Great Bend High School is a public high school in Great Bend, KS, enrolling 923 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.

Enrollment is up 36% from 2021 to 2024.

It offers 5 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 64% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).

107 students took the SAT or ACT in the most recent federal count, a participation level above 62% of U.S. high schools.

Its federal four-year graduation rate was about 91% in the latest EDFacts release.

It has about 308 students per school counselor.

50% of its students were chronically absent in 2020.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (enrollment), the federal Civil Rights Data Collection and EDFacts, state education agencies where named, and the school's own published documents where named.

Questions families ask

How many AP courses does Great Bend High School offer? Great Bend High School offers 5 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 64% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).

What is Great Bend High School's graduation rate? Great Bend High School's federal four-year graduation rate was about 91% in the latest EDFacts release.

How many students attend Great Bend High School? Great Bend High School is a public high school in Great Bend, KS, enrolling 923 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

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