Southeast Whitfield County High School

Dalton · GA · Whitfield County · Public

📄 Shareable scorecard →

📚AP rigor: 80th percentile nationally 📖10 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 10 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 1 calculus classes · 4 physics · 12 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 80th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 37% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 92% (60th percentile nationally)

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

💡

How Southeast Whitfield County High School compares for families

Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 20% nationally with 10 AP courses.
  • LocallyGA 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: Dalton High School, Murray County High School, Northwest Whitfield County High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

📬

Follow Southeast Whitfield County High School

Get an email when Southeast Whitfield County High School's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.

🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

80th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
10
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
117
≈8 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
27
1 calculus · 26 advanced
Lab science classes
16
4 physics · 12 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program
✅ 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 37% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
39
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
2.7
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?

60th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
92%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
299
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)
13.9%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
37.1%
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

High-poverty school

Title I Schoolwide eligible

94.9%
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)

≥75% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. These schools qualify for the highest tier of federal Title I funding and typically receive extra wraparound services. Academic outcomes vary widely — check the state assessment + grad-rate tiles.

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 Georgia

37%
admit rate
$11,450
in-state tuition/yr · $31,688 out-of-state
1160–1390
SAT 25–75 · ACT 25–32

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 $13,936/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

See the full University of Georgia 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 Georgia

Georgia's public scholarships

Georgia's lottery-funded HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships are pure merit — no income limit. GPAs are recalculated by the state (GSFC) on core academic courses only.

Merit HOPE Scholarship
A set percentage of in-state public-college tuition
GPA: 3.0 (GSFC core-course GPA) Income: No income limit

Covers a set share of public-college tuition for Georgia grads with a 3.0+ core GPA — no test score or income limit. (Requires 4 rigor credits; maintain a 3.0 in college.)

Official program details ↗
Merit Zell Miller Scholarship
100% of in-state public-college tuition
GPA: 3.7 (GSFC core GPA) — or 3.0 for a named valedictorian/salutatorian Test: SAT 1200 / ACT 25 in a single sitting (waived on the val/sal path) Income: No income limit

Top tier: full public-college tuition for a 3.7 GPA plus a single-sitting SAT 1200 / ACT 25. Named valedictorians and salutatorians qualify at a 3.0 with no test. (The 3.0 val/sal path needs no test score; 3.3 is the separate in-college maintenance GPA.)

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.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
23.5%
Elevated above the national average (~16%). Worth understanding — chronic absence compounds into dropout risk, transfer-out risk, and revenue loss.
Students absent 15+ days
341
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. 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
484:1
Around the US median. Counselors are stretched but functional.
Counselor FTE
3.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
79
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 313 in 2021 to 332 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+6.1%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +0.0%/year, projecting from 2024's 1,453 students:

2025
1,453
2027
1,454
2029
1,455

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

Revenue upside

At $13,166 per student in district revenue, the 2 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $26,332/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
Dalton High School
Dalton
Public 4.1 1,919 +35.7%
Murray County High School
Chatsworth
Public 9.2 1,068 +0.8%
Northwest Whitfield County High School
Tunnel Hill
Public 10.4 1,098 -13.3%
North Murray High School
Chatsworth
Public 9.0 961 -3.6%
Coahulla Creek High School
Dalton
Public 11.6 1,041 +1.0%
Calhoun High School
Calhoun
Public 16.2 1,282 +2.7%
Heritage High School
Ringgold
Public 18.2 1,268 -0.9%
LaFayette High School
La Fayette
Public 18.3 1,157 +2.8%

For Parents

Researching colleges for your kid at Southeast Whitfield County High School?

Get a personalized College Plan Audit — find Reach, Target, and Safety colleges matched to your kid's GPA, test scores, intended major, and your family's budget. Free.

Start the College Plan Audit →

For School Admins looking at enrollment trends: request an Enrollment Trend Audit →