Onslow News

At Onslow County Schools, 683 out of 1,752 junior students taking the English portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

English scores among the district's schools dropped to 39% compared to the previous school year, when 41.1% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Swansboro High School students stood out from schools in Onslow County Schools in English, with almost 48% of the 11th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (109). Meanwhile, students from Northside High School struggled the most on the English portion, and only 29.3% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 41% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for English during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides English, 36.2% of Onslow County Schools 11th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In math, 20.1% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 18.9% of juniors also met the standard. Overall, Onslow County Schools had an average college readiness of 12.1% 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)
Swansboro High School	47.9%	48%
Dixon High School	47.8%	43.6%
Onslow Virtual Secondary	51.3%	39.4%
Southwest High School	35.1%	37.4%
Jacksonville High School	38.2%	37.2%
Richlands High School	40.6%	34.4%
White Oak High School	33.5%	31.8%
Northside High School	31.3%	29.3%
Onslow Early College	<5%	<5%
Onslow County Schools	41.1%	39%