POLK STATE LAKELAND GATEWAY TO COLLEGE COLLEGIATE HIGH SCHO

LAKELAND · FL · POLK · Public charter

Public 🏛 POLK →
📄 Shareable scorecard →

🎓97% 4-yr grad rate

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 29% of US high schools
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 75th percentile by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 97% (90th percentile nationally)

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

💡

How POLK STATE LAKELAND GATEWAY TO COLLEGE COLLEGIATE HIGH SCHO compares for families

What families should know about POLK STATE LAKELAND GATEWAY TO COLLEGE COLLEGIATE HIGH SCHO.

  • LocallyFL 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: POLK STATE COLLEGE COLLEGIATE HIGH SCHOOL, CHAIN OF LAKES COLLEGIATE HIGH, MAYNARD A TRAVISS TECHNICAL ACADEMY and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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Get an email when POLK STATE LAKELAND GATEWAY TO COLLEGE COLLEGIATE HIGH SCHO's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

75th percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
193
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
65.2
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?

90th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
97%
Range: 95–100%
4-year cohort size
121
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)
75.0%
Elevated — a quarter or more of teachers are in years 1-2. Often correlates with school instability.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
50.0%
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 Florida

24%
admit rate
$6,381
in-state tuition/yr · $28,659 out-of-state
1300–1480
SAT 25–75 · ACT 28–33

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 $6,541/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

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

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

💰 Pay for college in Florida

Florida's public scholarships

Florida's Bright Futures pays 75–100% of in-state tuition by tier, based on GPA, test scores, and community-service hours. We built a calculator that checks the exact thresholds for you.

Merit Bright Futures (FAS & FMS)
75%–100% of in-state public-college tuition (by tier)
GPA: 3.0 weighted (Medallion) / 3.5 weighted (Academic Scholar) Test: SAT/ACT + community-service hours (varies by tier) Income: No income limit

Florida's merit scholarship pays 75–100% of in-state tuition by tier. Use our Bright Futures calculator for the exact GPA, test, and service-hour cutoffs. (Use our Bright Futures calculator for exact GPA, test & service thresholds.)

Check eligibility with our calculator →  official program ↗

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.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
4.1%
Below 10% — strong attendance culture. Chronic absence is a leading indicator of dropout and disengagement; a low rate signals families staying connected to the school.
Students absent 15+ days
12
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: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
148:1
Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.
Counselor FTE
2.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
7
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 131 in 2021 to 125 in 2024 — over 3 years.
-4.6%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +6.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 296 students:

2025
314
2027
354
2029
400

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

Revenue upside

At $11,803 per student in district revenue, the 104 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $1,227,512/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
POLK STATE COLLEGE COLLEGIATE HIGH SCHOOL
LAKELAND
Public · charter 0.0 343 +2.1%
CHAIN OF LAKES COLLEGIATE HIGH
WINTER HAVEN
Public · charter 11.1 340 +6.2%
MAYNARD A TRAVISS TECHNICAL ACADEMY
LAKELAND
Public 0.5 137 +7.0%
FORT MEADE MIDDLE/SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
FORT MEADE
Public 17.1 397 -1.7%
FRESH START COMMUNITY SCHOOL
LAKELAND
Public 3.2 105 +5.0%
RIDGEVIEW GLOBAL STUDIES ACADEMY
DAVENPORT
Public · charter 23.1 376 +43.0%
SIMMONS CAREER CENTER
PLANT CITY
Public 15.0 127 -28.2%
HOSPITAL HOMEBOUND
BARTOW
Public 8.4 91 +78.4%

For Parents

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