Polaris Tech Charter School

What families should know about Polaris Tech Charter School.

• ▸ LocallySC sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.

🏛️ 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

University of South Carolina-Columbia

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 $22,811/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.

Enrollment trend & projection

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -0.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 514 students:

≈ 5 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

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

Revenue at risk

At $21,713 per student in district revenue, the 5 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $108,565/year in funding at risk.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.