Mat-Su Central School

Wasilla · AK · Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District · Public · K-12 combined

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📖8 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 8 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 2 calculus classes · 4 physics · 7 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 73th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 20% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 72% (Bottom 16% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

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

💡

How Mat-Su Central School compares for families

Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor at the 73th percentile nationally with 8 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: Wasilla High School, Colony High School, Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

73th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
8
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
11
≈1 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
9
2 calculus · 7 advanced
Lab science classes
11
4 physics · 7 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Gifted/talented 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

Bottom 20% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
15
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
1.4
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?

Bottom 16% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
72%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
219
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)
0%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
56.2%
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.

🏛️ Your state's public flagship

University of Alaska Fairbanks

$8,736
in-state tuition/yr · $22,320 out-of-state

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.

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

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

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
927:1
Well above the US median — a real constraint on individualized college and course planning.
Counselor FTE
3.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
26
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 210 in 2021 to 263 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+25.2%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +9.5%/year, projecting from 2024's 2,780 students:

2025
3,043
2027
3,647
2029
4,370

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

Revenue upside

At $17,695 per student in district revenue, the 1,590 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $28,135,050/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
Wasilla High School
Wasilla
Public 0.6 816 -0.6%
Colony High School
Palmer
Public 7.6 1,046 -8.8%
Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High School
Wasilla
Public 3.1 705 -7.7%
Palmer High School
Palmer
Public 9.9 616 -17.0%
Houston High School
Big Lake
Public 11.0 337 -8.2%
Burchell High School
Wasilla
Public 2.0 200 -14.9%
Mat-Su Middle College School
Palmer
Public 6.4 222 +18.7%
Joe Redington Senior Jr/Sr High School
Wasilla
Public 10.3 231 -19.5%

For Parents

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