At Onslow County Schools, 577 out of 1,688 senior students taking the reading portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
Reading scores among the district’s schools dropped to 34.2% compared to the previous school year, when 35.5% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.
Onslow Early College students stood out from schools in Onslow County Schools in reading, with almost 87% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (40). Meanwhile, students from Northside High School struggled the most on the reading portion, and only 23.8% were considered ready for college.
For comparison, North Carolina saw 36% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for reading during the 2022-23 school year.
Besides reading, 40.9% of Onslow County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 19.1% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 18.7% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Onslow County Schools had an average college readiness of 10.7% across all ACT areas.
North Carolina’s education system is still grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the 2022-23 ACT results, college readiness among North Carolina students falls short of pre-pandemic levels, with only 17.1% meeting benchmarks.
Additionally, the state’s performance is lagging behind the national average, which currently stands at 21%.
| School | Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2021-22) | Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2022-23) |
|---|---|---|
| Onslow Early College | 87.5% | 87% |
| Onslow Virtual Secondary | 30.6% | 41% |
| Swansboro High School | 37% | 40.7% |
| Dixon High School | 41.3% | 40.6% |
| Jacksonville High School | 33.5% | 34.3% |
| Richlands High School | 29.5% | 29.6% |
| White Oak High School | 29.3% | 29.2% |
| Southwest High School | 22.2% | 29.1% |
| Northside High School | 43.8% | 23.8% |
| Onslow County Schools | 35.5% | 34.2% |
