Fairbanks B.E.S.T.
Fairbanks · AK · Fairbanks North Star Borough School District · Public · K-12 combined
📄 Shareable scorecard →Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Monroe Jr, Sr High Schools Of Fairbanks → Immaculate Conception School → Lathrop High School → Golden Heart Academy → Interior Distance Education of Alaska (IDEA) → Hutchison High School → North Star College → West Valley High School →📋 At a glance
- 📚 9 AP courses offered — Elite
- ✅ Gifted & talented program
- 🔢 1 calculus classes · 2 physics · 5 chemistry
- 🎓 AP rigor: 73th percentile nationally
- 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 7% by test-taker volume
- 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 44% (Bottom 8% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Fairbanks B.E.S.T. compares for families
Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor at the 73th percentile nationally with 9 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: Monroe Jr, Sr High Schools Of Fairbanks, Immaculate Conception School, Lathrop 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
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 · 2020-21Bottom 7% 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 8% 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.
👩🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC
Teacher experience & reliability
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.
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 +1.8%/year, projecting from 2024's 784 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $20,198 per student in district revenue, the 73 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $1,474,454/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.
Nearby high schools — the local competition
The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe Jr, Sr High Schools Of Fairbanks Fairbanks |
Private | 0.8 | 328 | -18.0% |
| Immaculate Conception School Fairbanks |
Private | 0.8 | 332 | — |
| Lathrop High School Fairbanks |
Public | 1.4 | 788 | -6.3% |
| Golden Heart Academy Fairbanks |
Public | 2.3 | 10 | — |
| Interior Distance Education of Alaska (IDEA) Fairbanks |
Public | 3.3 | 2,215 | +14.8% |
| Hutchison High School Fairbanks |
Public | 3.6 | 356 | -7.8% |
| North Star College Fairbanks |
Public | 3.7 | 197 | +14.5% |
| West Valley High School Fairbanks |
Public | 3.9 | 782 | -10.9% |