Columbia HS

Columbia · PA · Columbia Borough SD · Public

Public 🏛 Columbia Borough SD →

Similar nearby schools

Most similar nearby schools

Prospect Grove High School → Sonlight River Brethren School → Donegal HS → Eastern York HS → New Story → The Janus School → Lancaster County Career and Technology Center - Mt Joy → Hempfield SHS →

📋 At a glance

Programs & features

✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
✅ Gifted & talented program

Academic signals

🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 40% of US high schools
📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 20% by test-taker volume
🎓 4-yr grad rate: 72% (Bottom 16% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

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

💡

How Columbia HS compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

▸ LocallyPA students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+4 points).
▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Prospect Grove High School, Sonlight River Brethren School, Donegal HS and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 20% by test-taker volume

SAT/ACT test-takers

11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test

Test-taking intensity

4.0

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?

Bottom 16% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

4-year graduation rate

72%

Range: 70–74%

4-year cohort size

116

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)

13.2%

Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.

% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)

39.5%

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.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days

51.9%

Well above the national average (~16%). At this level, chronic absence becomes a leading driver of enrollment loss as families rotate to other schools.

Students absent 15+ days

206

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

198:1

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

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 89 in 2021 to 93 in 2024 — over 3 years.

+4.5%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -1.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 397 students:

2025

392

2027

383

2029

373

≈ 24 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 $22,624 per student in district revenue, the 24 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $542,976/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.

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
Prospect Grove High School Columbia	Private	2.5	26	—
Sonlight River Brethren School Mount Joy	Private	2.6	53	+0.0%
Donegal HS Mount Joy	Public	3.6	955	+3.2%
Eastern York HS Wrightsville	Public	4.0	640	-2.1%
New Story Mountville	Private	4.4	109	+58.0%
The Janus School Mount Joy	Private	4.6	77	+11.6%
Lancaster County Career and Technology Center - Mt Joy Mount Joy	Public	4.9	15	—
Hempfield SHS Landisville	Public	5.4	2,281	+2.3%