MC Academy
Benton · KY · Marshall County · Public · K-12 combined
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Marshall County Technical Center → Mayfield/Graves County Area Tech Center → Murray/Calloway County Area Tech Center → Bluegrass Challenge Academy → Heritage Park High School → Rivendell High School → McCracken Regional School → Waller-Williams Environmental →📋 At a glance
- ✅ Gifted & talented program
- 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 22% of US high schools
- 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 13% by test-taker volume
- 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 74% (Bottom 17% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How MC Academy compares for families
What families should know about MC Academy.
- ▸ LocallyKY 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: Marshall County Technical Center, Mayfield/Graves County Area Tech Center, Murray/Calloway County Area Tech Center and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
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SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Bottom 13% 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 17% 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.
🏛️ Federal Title I context
Title I Schoolwide eligible
≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program
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 Kentucky
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 $18,851/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 Kentucky
Kentucky's public scholarships
Kentucky's KEES award is unusual: you bank money every year you keep your grades up, then add a one-time test bonus. No income limit on the base or test award.
Kentucky banks a scholarship for each year you keep a 2.5+ GPA — bigger for higher GPAs — plus a one-time ACT/SAT bonus. (Free/reduced-lunch students can add AP/IB supplements.)
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.
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 -14.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 100 students:
A small or specialty program — naive trend math doesn't capture the school's full picture. Read the trend as directional, not predictive.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall County Technical Center Benton |
Public | 0.1 | — | — |
| Mayfield/Graves County Area Tech Center Mayfield |
Public | 20.7 | — | — |
| Murray/Calloway County Area Tech Center Murray |
Public | 21.1 | — | — |
| Bluegrass Challenge Academy Fort Knox |
Public | 145.9 | 80 | +19.4% |
| Heritage Park High School Owensboro |
Public | 86.7 | 140 | -45.9% |
| Rivendell High School Bowling Green |
Public | 107.7 | 59 | — |
| McCracken Regional School Paducah |
Public | 22.4 | 22 | — |
| Waller-Williams Environmental Louisville |
Public | 161.9 | 40 | — |